Specific effects of unilateral lesions in the flocculus upon eye movements in albino rabbits

The horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (HVOR) and optokinetic response (OKR) were examined in alert albino rabbits following unilateral flocculectomy. Chemical flocculectomy with local application of kainic acid was used to avoid the retrograde degeneration of inferior olive neurons that accompanies surgical flocculectomy. Effects of chemical flocculectomy, however, were identical to those of surgical flocculectomy. The following functional deficiencies were observed in the movements of the ipsilateral eye: (1) reduction of the HVOR gain; (2) increased lag of the HVOR phase; (3) increased non-linearity of the relationship between the HVOR gain and the amplitude of turntable rotation; (4) decreased OKR gain; (5) delay with increased variation in the OKR phase; (6) impairment of rapid visual-vestibular interaction; (7) loss of the adaptation of the HVOR. Only a transient depression of the HVOR gain was seen in the contralateral eye. Control experiments with lesions in the paraflocculus, nodulus, and uvula, or lobules VI and VII, revealed no such deficiencies, except that lesions in the nodulus and uvula produced marked advancement of the HVOR phase. The effects of flocculectomy are consistent with present knowledge of both neuronal circuitry and activity of the rabbit flocculus.