Anticipatory smooth eye movements and predictive pursuit after unilateral lesions in human brain

Anticipatory smooth eye movements precede expected changes in target motion. It has been questioned whether anticipatory smooth eye movements are a component of the smooth pursuit system. Five subjects with unilateral brain lesions and five control subjects were tested with predictable double-ramp stimuli to determine whether these lesions have a similar effect on horizontal, visually guided smooth pursuit, anticipatory smooth eye movements, and the predictive component of smooth pursuit. All four subjects with a brain lesion involving the parietal or parietal-frontal lobe had parallel velocity asymmetries in all three forms of smooth eye movements, with lowest velocities toward the side of the lesion. A similar uniformity and magnitude of smooth eye movement directional asymmetries were not found in control subjects. Unidirectional attenuation of these three forms of smooth eye movements provides evidence that they are part of a unified smooth eye movement system.