So I was reflecting on everything that I have written about over the past few weeks and it's become apparent that one topic can easily branch itself into many different things, seen in going from the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflex to nystagmus to psychology and sleep. To this point, though, I think I can say with certainty that the extension of my research has been successful; I have developed a better understanding of how the reflexes I studied relate to many other fields of interest to me and others.
The title is labeled "to this point" because I fully intend to continue pursuing these particular fields of study, and recent inquiry has reignited my desire to learn more about lucid dreaming and REM sleep. I also very interested in following nystagmus and how it relates to diseases, in addition to continuing along the track of learning more about the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes, as was the initial motivation behind this project.
I have also enjoyed the opportunity itself to pursue developing a train of thought in an extended manner through this blog, and the posts, which I believe have built well off one another. All in all, it's been quite interesting to this point, and hopefully it becomes more so over time.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Sleep and Nystagmus
I saw a recent comment about the effect of sleep deprivation on nystagmus, and I think that's definitely something to consider seeing how REM sleep involves random movements that may be related to the random saccadic movements undertaken in order to form an image during the vision process. I decided to dedicate a post to this because I think it's really an interesting extension of everything I've been talking about over the previous few weeks.
I have a friend who is currently following a polyphasic sleep schedule, and I spoke to him about whether there could be a relation. He is getting about four hours of sleep every 24 hours, but it doesn't seem to have shown anything related to nystagmus or optokinetic movements. He has cited various cases in which his eyes have hurt after waking from a nap, but I don't think any conclusions can be drawn. I think the reason for this is that we really don't know much about sleep. If the random movements in REM sleep could be somehow linked to the random movements when seeing on a normal basis, the "random" movements in REM sleep may not truly be so random.
Oddly enough, when I began the research process I looked heavily into several psychology-related topics pertaining to sleep including lucid dreaming, hypnopedia, and more, and I find it nicely-related to be able to talk about sleep in relation to the topic I ended up choosing, which was obviously that of visual reflexes.
I have a friend who is currently following a polyphasic sleep schedule, and I spoke to him about whether there could be a relation. He is getting about four hours of sleep every 24 hours, but it doesn't seem to have shown anything related to nystagmus or optokinetic movements. He has cited various cases in which his eyes have hurt after waking from a nap, but I don't think any conclusions can be drawn. I think the reason for this is that we really don't know much about sleep. If the random movements in REM sleep could be somehow linked to the random movements when seeing on a normal basis, the "random" movements in REM sleep may not truly be so random.
Oddly enough, when I began the research process I looked heavily into several psychology-related topics pertaining to sleep including lucid dreaming, hypnopedia, and more, and I find it nicely-related to be able to talk about sleep in relation to the topic I ended up choosing, which was obviously that of visual reflexes.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Nystagmus as a Predictor
So it seems that I'm finally experiencing the effects of picking a topic that is very specific: there does not seem to be much directly related to the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes. There is, however, a news article I found today about nystagmus, which confirms something I was speculative about earlier: the ability of nystagmus to predict diseases.
The news story described the vision problems that can be related to multiple sclerosis, and cited that in about 75 percent of multiple sclerosis patients, nystagmus is a symptom as objects in the field of vision seem to "jiggle", causing loss of balance and perceptive abilities.
In terms of my research, this seems to be an effect of both the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes, in that it is already known that nystagmus relates to problems with the eye, but the fact that it causes a moving field of vision sensation likely means that the optokinetic reflex is not working well enough to warrant correct vision perception.
The news story described the vision problems that can be related to multiple sclerosis, and cited that in about 75 percent of multiple sclerosis patients, nystagmus is a symptom as objects in the field of vision seem to "jiggle", causing loss of balance and perceptive abilities.
In terms of my research, this seems to be an effect of both the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes, in that it is already known that nystagmus relates to problems with the eye, but the fact that it causes a moving field of vision sensation likely means that the optokinetic reflex is not working well enough to warrant correct vision perception.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Modeling Nystagmus
Well nystagmus made the news again today, and when I read the headline about a cure, I grew a bit speculative. Further investigation yielded an article detailing a cure...of sorts. Apparently a group of Russian inventors were recently awarded recognition in a computer-implemented invention contest for their development of computer models to represent methods to diagnose and treat nystagmus.
Though at this point only a model, the potential applications of this technology are huge: the model makes use of several recent developments in biotechnology that have promising applications. A cure for the pathological expression of nystagmus could drastically minimize the vision-related side effects of many diseases.
Though at this point only a model, the potential applications of this technology are huge: the model makes use of several recent developments in biotechnology that have promising applications. A cure for the pathological expression of nystagmus could drastically minimize the vision-related side effects of many diseases.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Nystagmus
News has been slow for the past week or so, and I haven't really found much in terms of new strides made in research, but I have been coming across several articles related to nystagmus, which is definitely related to my research. I thought it would be appropriate, then, to talk a little about what nystagmus is, and the impacts it has.
Nystagmus is, in a nutshell, involuntary eye movements that can be related to a number of things, including the vestibulo-ocular reflex and certain pathological conditions. It is naturally-occurring and differs from traditional saccadic movements in that it involves both rapid, saccadic movements in addition to smooth-pursuit movements, which are self-explanatory. Because nystagmus is used to aid in visual tracking and imaging, intoxication via alcohol inhibits it, and one widely-used sobriety test today is a test of nystagmus movements.
The reason this keeps making the news, though, is because nystagmus can be pathological, and in doing so disrupt vision abilities. In its pathological form, nystagmus is probably best described as the involuntary twitching and movement of the eye, and, as cited above, can be caused by alcohol, in addition to problems with the nervous system.
As such, I think an interesting application of nystamus would be to link it to different diseases and possibly use it as a barometer for diseases or conditions that a person may have. Many diseases currently exhibit nystagmus as a side-effect, and this fact could be used to aid in diagnosing certain diseases.
I'll keep on the lookout for anything related to nystagmus, and, of course, the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes themselves.
Nystagmus is, in a nutshell, involuntary eye movements that can be related to a number of things, including the vestibulo-ocular reflex and certain pathological conditions. It is naturally-occurring and differs from traditional saccadic movements in that it involves both rapid, saccadic movements in addition to smooth-pursuit movements, which are self-explanatory. Because nystagmus is used to aid in visual tracking and imaging, intoxication via alcohol inhibits it, and one widely-used sobriety test today is a test of nystagmus movements.
The reason this keeps making the news, though, is because nystagmus can be pathological, and in doing so disrupt vision abilities. In its pathological form, nystagmus is probably best described as the involuntary twitching and movement of the eye, and, as cited above, can be caused by alcohol, in addition to problems with the nervous system.
As such, I think an interesting application of nystamus would be to link it to different diseases and possibly use it as a barometer for diseases or conditions that a person may have. Many diseases currently exhibit nystagmus as a side-effect, and this fact could be used to aid in diagnosing certain diseases.
I'll keep on the lookout for anything related to nystagmus, and, of course, the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes themselves.
Monday, February 4, 2008
An Introduction
As I said a few days back, I thought it best to begin by addressing some of the terminology involved. I was browsing the web the other day to look for a good take on what the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes are, and I came across Dr. Jeff Pelz's site which I thought does a good job of explaining things well.
It all comes down to the fact that the human eye makes many involuntary movements simply to create the pictures that we see when we look at something. Just as there are reflex arcs to involuntarily move your finger quickly away from a hot stove, there are reflexes within the eye to make sure the perceived vision is both stable and suitable to be interpreted.
Because humans evolved to develop eyes that both attempt to increase the field of vision and the resolution of what is seen, and because neither one of these is more developed than the other, as is the case with hawks or rabbits, our eyes have to be rapidly moved around a scene in order to get a clear and accurate picture of what is going on. This rapid movement is the reason we have the visual reflexes in question.
Any vision system relies first upon being able to move the eyes from one point to another quickly, and in fact this movement in humans is among the fastest possible by the human body, and are called saccadic movements. Once we can move the eyes, we can then turn our attention to getting a good image, and that's where two reflexes are involved. The optokinetic reflex stabilizes images that are blurred as a result of a moving field of vision. The best example I've heard of this occurs while driving down a road flanked by lampposts. The ability to follow one lamppost as it moves past you, then visually latch on to another one that is in front of you and follow it, is an example of the optokinetic reflex at work.
The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is similar to the optokinetic reflex, but is used for stability in the cases of a moving point of vision. This is the reflex used to account for head movements, and is the reason why you can read a book during a bumpy car ride. The VOR is the reason you could read this text and retain focus even if you were moving your head rapidly from side to side (if you're going to try that, be careful, it can induce headaches).
So when it comes down to it, these reflexes are important because they serve as corrective measures, and without them we would definitely not be able to see things as clearly as we can.
Many thanks go to Dr. Pelz, whose website I have paraphrased from extensively in this post. I would highly recommend reading it for a more in-depth look and application of what I have mentioned here.
Hopefully by next time I'll have found something in the news relating to these two reflexes. As always, comments are welcome.
It all comes down to the fact that the human eye makes many involuntary movements simply to create the pictures that we see when we look at something. Just as there are reflex arcs to involuntarily move your finger quickly away from a hot stove, there are reflexes within the eye to make sure the perceived vision is both stable and suitable to be interpreted.
Because humans evolved to develop eyes that both attempt to increase the field of vision and the resolution of what is seen, and because neither one of these is more developed than the other, as is the case with hawks or rabbits, our eyes have to be rapidly moved around a scene in order to get a clear and accurate picture of what is going on. This rapid movement is the reason we have the visual reflexes in question.
Any vision system relies first upon being able to move the eyes from one point to another quickly, and in fact this movement in humans is among the fastest possible by the human body, and are called saccadic movements. Once we can move the eyes, we can then turn our attention to getting a good image, and that's where two reflexes are involved. The optokinetic reflex stabilizes images that are blurred as a result of a moving field of vision. The best example I've heard of this occurs while driving down a road flanked by lampposts. The ability to follow one lamppost as it moves past you, then visually latch on to another one that is in front of you and follow it, is an example of the optokinetic reflex at work.
The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is similar to the optokinetic reflex, but is used for stability in the cases of a moving point of vision. This is the reflex used to account for head movements, and is the reason why you can read a book during a bumpy car ride. The VOR is the reason you could read this text and retain focus even if you were moving your head rapidly from side to side (if you're going to try that, be careful, it can induce headaches).
So when it comes down to it, these reflexes are important because they serve as corrective measures, and without them we would definitely not be able to see things as clearly as we can.
Many thanks go to Dr. Pelz, whose website I have paraphrased from extensively in this post. I would highly recommend reading it for a more in-depth look and application of what I have mentioned here.
Hopefully by next time I'll have found something in the news relating to these two reflexes. As always, comments are welcome.
Friday, February 1, 2008
What this is all about
I have created this blog in the hopes of extending recent research that I have completed regarding the roles of the optokinetic and vestibulo-ocular reflexes in human vision. The blog title is a bit of a misnomer, because the research went beyond just optokinesis, and encompassed the previously-mentioned VOR, in addition to methods of sight.
Throughout the next few weeks, I intend to post whenever I seem to find new information related to my thesis, or simply to add insight as it strikes me. The study of the visual reflexes in question is currently very active, and I so hope to find news articles and other publications that I can hopefully relate to my research in some way.
I think that's enough of an introduction for now. I'll likely post next about some of the terminology associated with my research, as it can be a bit confusing.
Comments are greatly appreciated.
Throughout the next few weeks, I intend to post whenever I seem to find new information related to my thesis, or simply to add insight as it strikes me. The study of the visual reflexes in question is currently very active, and I so hope to find news articles and other publications that I can hopefully relate to my research in some way.
I think that's enough of an introduction for now. I'll likely post next about some of the terminology associated with my research, as it can be a bit confusing.
Comments are greatly appreciated.
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