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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Using Eye-tracking to Assess the Relative Importance of Visual and Vestibular Input to Subcortical Motion Processing in the Roll Plane
07:24

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Bat eye movements resolve a long-standing question in gaze control.

Hui Ho Vanessa Chang1, Grace Capshaw2, Dimitri Skandalis2

  • 1Research Institute for Aerospace Medicine, Inha University, Incheon 22332, Korea.

Current Biology : CB
|April 2, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Bats exhibit robust eye movements for gaze stabilization, challenging long-held assumptions. Their visual and otolith systems are key, while semicircular canal responses are minimal during passive head movements.

Keywords:
OKRVORbatsecholocationeye movementsgaze stabilizationoptokinetic reflexotolith organsself-motionsemicircular canalssensorimotor integrationvestibulo-ocular reflex

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Biology
  • Comparative Physiology

Background:

  • Eye movements are crucial for visual information gathering and gaze stabilization via optokinetic reflex (OKR) and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR).
  • Bats were historically presumed to lack eye movements, an assumption unsupported by empirical data.
  • Echolocating bats' flight agility suggests complex sensory-motor integration, yet their oculomotor capabilities remain unquantified.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantitatively analyze eye movements in Seba's short-tailed bat (Carollia perspicillata) in response to visual and vestibular stimuli.
  • To investigate the functional roles of the optokinetic reflex (OKR) and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in bats.
  • To compare bat VOR pathways with those of other mammals, such as mice.

Main Methods:

  • Quantitative analysis of eye movements in response to visual stimuli (OKR).
  • Assessment of otolith-mediated and semicircular canal-mediated VOR during off-vertical axis rotation.
  • Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) to reconstruct semicircular canal geometry in bats and mice.

Main Results:

  • Bats demonstrate robust visually driven OKR with an oculomotor range of approximately ±10°.
  • Bats exhibit strong otolith-mediated responses but minimal semicircular canal-driven angular VOR (aVOR) during passive head rotations.
  • Micro-CT reveals similar semicircular canal geometry between bats and mice, suggesting functional rather than anatomical constraints on bat aVOR.

Conclusions:

  • Bats possess significant eye movement capabilities, challenging previous assumptions.
  • Visual and otolith-driven gaze stabilization mechanisms are prominent in bats.
  • The minimal aVOR in bats may be compensated for during active flight through behavioral state-dependent modulation of vestibular pathways.