Ann Clin Neurophysiol.  2023;25(2):55-65. 10.14253/acn.2023.25.2.55.

Recording and interpretation of ocular movements: saccades, smooth pursuit, and optokinetic nystagmus

• Kang JJ
• Lee SU
• Kim JM
• Oh SY

• KMID: 2547397
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14253/acn.2023.25.2.55

Abstract

The ultimate role of ocular movements is to keep the image of an object within the fovea and thereby prevent image slippage on the retina. Accurate evaluations of eye movements provide very useful information for understanding the functions of the oculomotor system and determining abnormalities therein. Such evaluations also play an important role in enabling accurate diagnoses by identif ying the location of lesions and discriminating from other diseases. There are various types of ocular movements, and this article focuses on saccades, fast eye movements, smooth pursuit, and slow eye movements, which are the most important types of eye movements used in evaluations performed in clinical practice.

Keyword

Eye movement; Smooth pursuit; Smooth pursuit; Optokinetic nystagmus

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Analysis of fixed saccades. The maximum velocity, latency, and accuracy are measured. The gray areas indicate the normal values.

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  Fig. 2. An example of the velocity-amplitude curve in a random-saccades test. Compared with normal subjects (red dots), the patient (blue dots) shows lower saccade velocities at both small and large amplitudes.

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  Fig. 3. Saccadic intrusion and saccadic oscillation. (A) Square-wave jerks (SWJ), macro-square-wave jerks (MSWJ), saccadic pulse (SP), and double saccadic pulse (DSP). (B) Square wave oscillation (SWO). (C) Macrosaccadic oscillation (MSO). (D) Saccadic pulse trains (SPT).

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  Fig. 4. Types of stimulation for analyzing smooth pursuit: (A) step-ramp, (B) sinusoidal, and (C) triangle stimuli.

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  Fig. 5. (A) Horizontal smooth pursuit in a normal subject. (B) Contralateral impairment of smooth pursuit in a patient with lateral medullary infarction (arrow). (C) Bilateral smooth-pursuit impairment in a patient with spinocerebellar ataxia.

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  Fig. 6. (A) Optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) in a normal subject. (B) A patient with congenital nystagmus characterized by OKN reversal.

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