Adaptive changes of the eye movements for otolith stimulation in goldfish Original Research Article

Vestibular compensation was studied in the eye movements of goldfish. Vertical eye movements evoked by linear acceleration were analyzed for one month after unilateral removal of the otolith. No spontaneous nystagmus was observed in the goldfish following recovery from hemilabyrinthectomy surgery (a period of 30 min). However, unilateral removal of the otolith resulted in a decrease in response amplitude to linear acceleration. After one week, eye movement amplitude had increased to approximately 50% of normal. After one month of compensation, the response amplitude of eye movement was nearly normal. The results suggest that the goldfish is capable of almost completely recovering amplitude of response to linear acceleration following one month of compensation for unilateral removal of the otolith.