Implications of Ewald's second law for evaluation of vestibular function.

The significance of Ewald's second law in the evaluation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) was investigated using the transfer characteristics of the vestibular and VOR systems in normal rabbits and rabbits in which one horizontal semicircular canal had been blocked. The transfer characteristics of the vestibular system were derived from the experimental results reported by Goldberg and Fernández in 1971. A comparison was made of the properties of the bilateral and monolateral VOR systems with the predictions of a piecewise linear model of the vestibular system. The data received quantitatively collaborate the prediction of Ewald's second law as it applies to the VOR responses.