The influence of preexisting oscillations on the binocular optokinetic response.

Full-field binocular optokinetic responses were examined in patients with congenital nystagmus. If the stimulus moved in the same plane as the congenital nystagmus, a gaze-modulated response was recorded for both idiopathic and albino observers. When the congenital nystagmus was almost totally suppressed, neither a gaze-evoked nor a sawtooth response was seen. For stimulus movements in a plane orthogonal to the congenital nystagmus, normal sawtooth optokinetic responses were exhibited by both groups. Experimental evidence supports the hypothesis that the optokinetic response in the meridian of the spontaneous oscillation has been adapted.