Human Optokinetic Afternystagmus: Stimulus Velocity Dependence of the Two-Component Decay Model and Involvement of Pursuit

The dependence of human OKAN characteristics on optokinetic (OK) stimulus velocity was examined using the two-component double exponential model for OKAN decay. Drum velocities studied were between 10° and 70° deg/sec over a constant exposure period of 60 sec. Results reveal two distinct types of response: a 'low'-level response at lower drum velocities (10°, 20°, 30° /sec) and a 'high'-level response at higher drum velocities (40°, 60°, 70° /sec). These findings support our previous proposal that OKAN decay is a two-component process, and extend it by demonstrating that these two components have differing stimulus velocity sensitivities, as would be predicted if it were assumed that they represented direct (pursuit) and indirect (non-pursuit) pathways respectively.