Role of extraocular proprioception in the orienting behaviour of cats

We investigated the effects of unilateral deafferentation of extraocular proprioception on the orienting behaviour of cats. The ophthalmic branch of the Vth cranial nerve, in which most of the extraocular proprioceptive fibers are known to run, was cut unilaterally in adult cats. The animals had been previously trained to jump from a start box to a luminous target at various possible locations in the right or left visual hemifield. The postsurgical orienting performance of the animals, evaluated from the difference between landing position and position of the target, differed from the presurgical performance. The postsurgical errors were typically: (1) ipsiversive to the side of the section, (2) usually of a larger magnitude in the hemifield contralateral to the section, (3) present in binocular as well as in monocular viewing conditions and approximately of the same magnitude for jumps guided by either eye. These findings indicate that extraocular proprioception plays a role in the orienting behaviour of cats.