RESUMO
The identification of ocular tremor in a small cohort of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) had lay somewhat dormant until the recent report of a pervasive ocular tremor as a universal finding in a large PD cohort that was, however, generally absent from a cohort of age-matched healthy subjects. The reported tremor had frequency characteristics similar to those of PD limb tremor, but the amplitude and frequency of the tremor did not correlate with clinical tremor ratings. Much controversy ensued as to the origin of such a tremor, and specifically as to whether a pervasive ocular tremor was a fundamental feature of PD, or rather a compensatory eye oscillation secondary to a transmitted head tremor, and thus a measure of a normal vestibulo-ocular reflex. In this mini review, we summarize some of the evidence for and against the case for a pervasive ocular tremor in PD and suggest future experiments that may help resolve these conflicting opinions.
RESUMO
Intersaccadic periods of fixation are characterized by incessant retinal motion due to small eye movements. While these movements are often disregarded as noise, the temporal modulations they introduce to retinal receptors are significant. However, analysis of these input modulations is challenging because the intersaccadic eye motion is close to the resolution limits of most eyetrackers, including widespread pupil-based video systems. Here, we analyzed in depth the limits of two high-precision eyetrackers, the Dual-Purkinje Image and the scleral search coil, and compared the intersaccadic eye movements of humans to those of a non-human primate. By means of a model eye we determined that the resolution of both techniques is sufficient to reliably measure intersaccadic ocular activity up to approximately 80Hz. Our results show that the characteristics of ocular drift are remarkably similar in the two species; a clear deviation from a scale-invariant spectrum occurs in the range between 50 and 100Hz, generally attributed to ocular tremor, leading to intersaccadic retinal speeds as high as 1.5deg/s. The amplitude of this deviation differs on the two axes of motion. In addition to our experimental observations, we suggest basic guidelines to evaluate the performance of eyetrackers and to optimize experimental conditions for the measurement of ocular drift and tremor.
Assuntos
Medições dos Movimentos Oculares/instrumentação , Movimentos Oculares/fisiologia , Animais , Medições dos Movimentos Oculares/normas , Haplorrinos , Humanos , Movimentos Sacádicos/fisiologiaRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Our recent report of ocular tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD) has raised considerable controversy as to the origin of the tremor. Using an infrared based eye tracker and a magnetic head tracker, we reported that ocular tremor was recordable in PD subjects with no apparent head tremor. However, other investigators suggest that the ocular tremor may represent either transmitted appendicular tremor or subclinical head tremor inducing the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The present study aimed to further investigate the origin of ocular tremor in PD. METHODS: Eye movements were recorded in 8 PD subjects both head free, and with full head restraint by means of a head holding device and a dental impression bite plate. Head movements were recorded independently using both a high sensitivity tri-axial accelerometer and a magnetic tracking system, each synchronized to the eye tracker. RESULTS: Ocular tremor was observed in all 8 PD subjects and was not influenced by head free and head fixed conditions. Both magnetic tracking and accelerometer recordings supported that the ocular tremor was fully independent of head position. CONCLUSION: The present study findings support our initial findings that ocular tremor is a fundamental feature of PD unrelated to head movements. Although the utility of ocular tremor for diagnostic purposes requires validation, current findings in large cohorts of PD subjects suggest its potential as a reliable clinical biomarker.