Neurovestibular Programs

The Ocular Motor and Vestibular Research Laboratory investigates, voluntary and reflexive motor control using the ocular motor system as a model motor system.  Taking advantage of the widespread ramifications of control structures within the cerebral hemispheres, the cerebellum and the brainstem, as well as the wealth of literature on the function of various structures, the laboratory is specifically interested in the cognitive processing of information involved in the selection and generation of movements.  In particular, we are investigating the competition and resolution of selection processes for willed (top down) processes and reflexive (bottom up) processes.  

A clinical Service is now being provided with clinical assessment being undertaken within the structure of the Neuro-ophthalmology Clinic.  Diagnostic services are expanding within the Department of Neuro-ophthalmology and we are now looking to expand that service.  

A main direction of the clinical program remains investigation of the influence of cognitive set and cerebral hemispheric disease on fundamental reflexes such as the vestibular reflex.  We hope to be able to integrate this with specific rehabilitation programs

Assessment of ocular motility: metrics and the effect of disease on the cognitive functions determining generation of appropriate eye movements.  
In this study we are assessing patients with proven multiple sclerosis.  We perform the standard neurological and neuro-ophthalmic examinations.  All consenting patients then undergo a standard battery of neuropsychological tests to exclude any frank cognitive dysfunction, before undergoing a comprehensive quantification of ocular motor function. The results are then compared with those of normal subjects and are also compared with standard evaluation of dysfunction in MS, the EDSS, to determine the sensitivity of the technique.  This is a preliminary prior to undertaking a longitudinal study .

Ocular motor function and cognitive influences in a group of adolescent patients with autism.
There have been findings of motor disorder in autism suggestive of cerebellar dysfunction.  This study looks at a comprehensive assessment of ocular motor function in this patient group to try and document motor performance and establish patterns of abnormality that might provide further insights into the nature of the pathological processes at work.

Ocular motor function and cognitive influences in a group of adolescent patients with Asperger’s syndrome.

Research Themes in the Neurovestibular Program

Our main direction remains the investigation of attention and hemispheric influences on vestibular, smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in normal subjects and patients with extrapyramidal disorders as well as autism and Aspergers.

We have extended our studies to include establishing a rating scale for motor performance, utilizing the unique nature of the ocular motor system in that it utilizes substantial parts of motor cortex, has extensively ramified connecting pathways and also utilizes a substantial part of brainstem as the ocular motor generator.  We are now commencing trials in order to validate its utility in assessing progression in neurological disease.