Firing characteristics of vestibular nuclei neurons in the alert monkey after bilateral vestibular neurectomy

After destruction of the peripheral vestibular system which is not activated by moving large-field visual stimulation, not only labyrinthine-ocular reflexes but also optokinetic-ocular responses related to the "velocity storage" mechanism are abolished. In the normal monkey optokinetic-ocular responses are reflected in sustained activity changes of central vestibular neurons within the vestibular nuclei. To account for the loss of optokinetic responses after labyrinthectomy, inactivation of central vestibular neurons consequent on the loss of primary vestibular activity is assumed to be of major importance. To test this hypothesis we recorded the neural activity within the vestibular nuclea…