Optokinetic nystagmus in progressive retinal degeneration.

Optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) was studied in both normally pigmented and delayed amelanotic (DAM) strains of domestic chicken. The DAM line is characterized by postnatal feather and ocular depigmentation accompanied by progressive retinal degeneration that occurs, initially and most severely, in the central retina. A close association exists between the extent of ocular pigment loss and relative reduction in OKN responsiveness in DAMs. The directional asymmetry of OKN responses, which normally occurs with monocular temporal-to-nasal (T-N) but not to nasal-to-temporal (N-T) stimulation, was altered in relation to the extent of ocular amelanosis among DAMs. In particular, T-N OKN responses were progressively reduced as amelanosis of the central retina increased in severity. In DAMs with moderate to severe reductions in T-N responsiveness, relatively little reduction occurred in N-T responsiveness. The central retina, therefore, appears to play a major role in mediating responses to T-N stimulation, whereas the peripheral retina mediates both directions of response. Optokinetic nystagmus also provides a useful index of the extent of retinal degeneration and the progressive loss of retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors which occurs in this mutant strain.