Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Torsional deviations with voluntary saccades caused by a unilateral midbrain lesion
  1. Olympia Kremmyda1,
  2. Jean A Büttner-Ennever2,
  3. Ulrich Büttner1,
  4. Stefan Glasauer1
  1. 1
    Department of Neurology, Klinikum Großhadern, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
  2. 2
    Institute of Anatomy, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
  1. Dr Stefan Glasauer, Department of Neurology, Klinikum Großhadern, Ludwig Maximilians University, Marchioninistr 23, 81377 Munich, Germany; S.Glasauer{at}lrz.uni-muenchen.de

Abstract

Three dimensional eye rotations were measured using the magnetic search coil technique in a patient with a lesion of the right rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (RIMLF) and in four control subjects. Up to 10° contralesional torsional deviations with each voluntary saccade were revealed, which also could be seen during bedside examination. There was no spontaneous nystagmus. Based on MRI criteria, the lesion involved the RIMLF but spared the interstitial nucleus of Cajal. To date, this deficit has not been described in patients. Our results support the hypothesis that the vertical–torsional saccade generator in humans is organised similarly as in monkeys: each RIMLF encodes torsional saccades in one direction, while both participate in vertical saccades.

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Funding: Marie Curie Early Stage Training (MEST-CT-2004-007825 “SensoPrim”) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Gl 342/1-3).

  • Competing interests: None.

  • Abbreviations:
    INC
    interstitial nucleus of Cajal
    RIMLF
    right rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus