Quantification of the Human Nystagmic Response to Angular Acceleration. Prediction Formulae and Nomograph

Abstract

Five young adult men with normal labyrinthine function were stimulated by a series of graded angular accelerations, during which they carried out particular mental tasks. Each subject was seated at the center of rotation, eyes open, and with head fixed with a bite board so that the lateral canals were in the horizontal plane of rotation. The subject was enclosed in a capsule which provided a totally dark environment, and shielded him from wind currents. Low-level masking noise and vibration prevented detection of extraneous cues related to angular velocity. Ocular nystagmus was analyzed second-by-second and an empiric equation fitted to the data.