Biomaterial Database

Disorders of vergence eye movements. 2011

Alessandro Serra, and Athena L Chen, and R John Leigh

Neurology Department, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

OBJECTIVE The aim is to re-interpret disorders of vergence in the light of recent studies that view disjunctive eye movements as but one component of three-dimensional gaze control. RESULTS Most natural eye movements combine vergence with saccades, pursuit and vestibular eye movements. Electrophysiological studies in epileptic patients, as well as evidence from monkeys, indicate that frontal and parietal cortex govern vergence as a component of three-dimensional gaze. Clinicians apply Hering's law of equal innervation to interpret disjunctive movements as the superposition of conjugate and vergence commands. However, electrophysiological studies indicate that disjunctive saccades are achieved by programming each eye's movement independently. Patients with internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) may have preserved vergence, which can be recruited to compensate for loss of conjugacy. Vergence may also enable gaze shifts in saccadic palsy. Some forms of nystagmus suppress or change with convergence; co-contraction of the horizontal rectus muscles does not appear to be the explanation. Rather, effects of near viewing on central vestibular mechanisms or differential activation of specific types of extra-ocular muscle fiber may be responsible. CONCLUSIONS Interpretation of disorders of vergence is aided by applying a scheme in which their contributions to three-dimensional gaze control is considered.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008636	Mesencephalon	The middle of the three primitive cerebral vesicles of the embryonic brain. Without further subdivision, midbrain develops into a short, constricted portion connecting the PONS and the DIENCEPHALON. Midbrain contains two major parts, the dorsal TECTUM MESENCEPHALI and the ventral TEGMENTUM MESENCEPHALI, housing components of auditory, visual, and other sensorimoter systems.	Midbrain,Mesencephalons,Midbrains
D011149	Pons	The front part of the hindbrain (RHOMBENCEPHALON) that lies between the MEDULLA and the midbrain (MESENCEPHALON) ventral to the cerebellum. It is composed of two parts, the dorsal and the ventral. The pons serves as a relay station for neural pathways between the CEREBELLUM to the CEREBRUM.	Pons Varolii,Ponte,Pons Varolius,Pontes,Varolii, Pons,Varolius, Pons
D002526	Cerebellar Diseases	Diseases that affect the structure or function of the cerebellum. Cardinal manifestations of cerebellar dysfunction include dysmetria, GAIT ATAXIA, and MUSCLE HYPOTONIA.	Cerebellar Dysfunction,Cerebellum Diseases,Cerebellar Disorders,Cerebellar Syndromes,Cerebellar Disease,Cerebellar Disorder,Cerebellar Dysfunctions,Cerebellar Syndrome,Cerebellum Disease,Disease, Cerebellar,Disease, Cerebellum,Disorder, Cerebellar,Dysfunction, Cerebellar,Syndrome, Cerebellar
D002540	Cerebral Cortex	The thin layer of GRAY MATTER on the surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES that develops from the TELENCEPHALON and folds into gyri and sulci. It reaches its highest development in humans and is responsible for intellectual faculties and higher mental functions.	Allocortex,Archipallium,Cortex Cerebri,Cortical Plate,Paleocortex,Periallocortex,Allocortices,Archipalliums,Cerebral Cortices,Cortex Cerebrus,Cortex, Cerebral,Cortical Plates,Paleocortices,Periallocortices,Plate, Cortical
D002658	Developmental Disabilities	Disorders in which there is a delay in development based on that expected for a given age level or stage of development. These impairments or disabilities originate before age 18, may be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a substantial impairment. Biological and nonbiological factors are involved in these disorders. (From American Psychiatric Glossary, 6th ed)	Child Development Deviations,Child Development Disorders,Child Development Disorders, Specific,Developmental Delay Disorders,Disabilities, Developmental,Development Disorders, Child,Child Development Deviation,Child Development Disorder,Development Deviation, Child,Development Deviations, Child,Development Disorder, Child,Developmental Delay Disorder,Developmental Disability,Deviation, Child Development,Disability, Developmental
D003290	Convergence, Ocular	The turning inward of the lines of sight toward each other.	Convergences, Ocular,Ocular Convergence,Ocular Convergences
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014786	Vision Disorders	Visual impairments limiting one or more of the basic functions of the eye: visual acuity, dark adaptation, color vision, or peripheral vision. These may result from EYE DISEASES; OPTIC NERVE DISEASES; VISUAL PATHWAY diseases; OCCIPITAL LOBE diseases; OCULAR MOTILITY DISORDERS; and other conditions (From Newell, Ophthalmology: Principles and Concepts, 7th ed, p132).	Hemeralopia,Macropsia,Micropsia,Day Blindness,Metamorphopsia,Vision Disability,Visual Disorders,Visual Impairment,Blindness, Day,Disabilities, Vision,Disability, Vision,Disorder, Visual,Disorders, Visual,Hemeralopias,Impairment, Visual,Impairments, Visual,Macropsias,Metamorphopsias,Micropsias,Vision Disabilities,Vision Disorder,Visual Disorder,Visual Impairments
D015835	Ocular Motility Disorders	Disorders that feature impairment of eye movements as a primary manifestation of disease. These conditions may be divided into infranuclear, nuclear, and supranuclear disorders. Diseases of the eye muscles or oculomotor cranial nerves (III, IV, and VI) are considered infranuclear. Nuclear disorders are caused by disease of the oculomotor, trochlear, or abducens nuclei in the BRAIN STEM. Supranuclear disorders are produced by dysfunction of higher order sensory and motor systems that control eye movements, including neural networks in the CEREBRAL CORTEX; BASAL GANGLIA; CEREBELLUM; and BRAIN STEM. Ocular torticollis refers to a head tilt that is caused by an ocular misalignment. Opsoclonus refers to rapid, conjugate oscillations of the eyes in multiple directions, which may occur as a parainfectious or paraneoplastic condition (e.g., OPSOCLONUS-MYOCLONUS SYNDROME). (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p240)	Brown Syndrome,Brown Tendon Sheath Syndrome,Brown's Syndrome,Convergence Insufficiency,Eye Movement Disorders,Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia,Ocular Torticollis,Opsoclonus,Parinaud Syndrome,Skew Deviation,Smooth Pursuit Deficiency,Brown's Tendon Sheath Syndrome,Convergence Excess,Cyclophoria,Deficiency, Smooth Pursuit,Eye Motility Disorders,Parinaud's Syndrome,Paroxysmal Ocular Dyskinesia,Pseudoophthalmoplegia,Spasm of Conjugate Gaze,Syndrome, Brown's Tendon Sheath,Tendon Sheath Syndrome of Brown,Browns Syndrome,Conjugate Gaze Spasm,Conjugate Gaze Spasms,Convergence Excesses,Convergence Insufficiencies,Cyclophorias,Deficiencies, Smooth Pursuit,Deviation, Skew,Deviations, Skew,Dyskinesia, Paroxysmal Ocular,Dyskinesias, Paroxysmal Ocular,Excess, Convergence,Eye Motility Disorder,Eye Movement Disorder,Gaze Spasms, Conjugate,Insufficiencies, Convergence,Insufficiency, Convergence,Internuclear Ophthalmoplegias,Ocular Dyskinesia, Paroxysmal,Ocular Dyskinesias, Paroxysmal,Ocular Motility Disorder,Ophthalmoplegia, Internuclear,Ophthalmoplegias, Internuclear,Parinauds Syndrome,Paroxysmal Ocular Dyskinesias,Pseudoophthalmoplegias,Pursuit Deficiencies, Smooth,Pursuit Deficiency, Smooth,Skew Deviations,Smooth Pursuit Deficiencies,Syndrome, Brown,Syndrome, Brown's,Syndrome, Parinaud,Syndrome, Parinaud's