Properties of anticipatory vergence responses.

PURPOSE: To characterize the dynamic properties of vergence eye movements made between near and far targets that were alternately illuminated with predictable timing.
METHODS: Using the magnetic search coil technique, eye movements were measured in 10 normal subjects as they shifted their point of fixation between a near green LED and a distant red laser spot, both aligned on subjects' midlines. Targets were alternately illuminated every 1.25 sec.
RESULTS: All subjects showed some anticipatory responses, consisting of vergence movements that preceded target jumps, accompanied by a small saccade. Group median anticipatory interval was 191 msec. Responses preceded target motion in 83% of divergence trials, and 70% of convergence trials. The velocities of both pre- and persaccadic components of anticipatory vergence responses were greater when the near target was positioned at 20-cm compared with at 36 cm. In control experiments, in which target presentation was unpredictable, vergence movements preceded stimuli in only approximately 2% of trials; for the group, vergence responses followed target presentation after a median interval of 183 msec. To determine whether anticipatory vergence movements depended on a memory of prior stimuli, trials were run in four subjects in which oddball stimuli required a different-sized vergence movement. Most responses to oddball stimuli were not significantly different from responses to the preceding stimuli.
CONCLUSIONS: Anticipatory vergence movements occur commonly in response to predictable stimulus movements in depth, but uncommonly when the timing of stimulus presentation is not predictable. The speed of anticipatory vergence movements is affected by stimulus amplitude. Properties of these movements are influenced by prior vergence responses, indicating that they depend on working memory.