Mechanics of the Orbita

The oculomotor periphery was formerly regarded as a simple mechanism executing complex behaviors explicitly specified by innervation. It is now recognized that several fundamental aspects of ocular motility are properties of the extraocular muscles (EOMs) and their associated connective tissue pulleys. The Active Pulley Hypothesis proposes that rectus and inferior oblique EOMs have connective tissue soft pulleys that are actively controlled by the action of the EOMs’ orbital layers. Functional imaging and histology have suggested that the rectus pulley array constitutes an inner mechanism, similar to a gimbal, that is rotated torsionally around the orbital axis by an outer mechanism driven by the oblique EOMs. This arrangement may mechanically account for several commutative aspects of ocular motor control, including Listing’s law, yet permits implementation of noncommutative motility as during the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Recent human behavioral studies, as well neurophysiology in monkeys, are consistent with mechanical rather than central neural implementation of Listing’s law. Pathology of the pulley system is associated with predictable patterns of strabismus that are surgically treatable when the pathologic anatomy is characterized by imaging. This mechanical determination may imply limited possibilities for neural adaptation to some ocular motor pathologies, but indicates greater potential for surgical treatments.