[Origin and physiology of the vestibular nystagmus].

Oculomotor reactions in tracing moving visual objects by moving eyes and head were studied in 30 healthy subjects. With changing speed of the moving objects, electrooculogram registrating eye movements acquired the form of the vestibular nystagmus. The amplitude and frequency of the nystagmic movements were defined through the object's acceleration. The control tests for static fixation in active turns of the head and dynamic eye fixation nystagmic movements of the eye were absent. The findings support the hypothesis that nystagmus is a visually determinated reaction of the glance control system and that vestibular afferentation has no independent connection with oculomotor muscles.