Saccadic adaptation in the horizontal and vertical directions in normal subjects

We studied the properties of adaptive gain control in the saccadic system and examined whether the adaptations in the horizontal direction transferred to those in the vertical direction, and vice versa, in 16 normal subjects. Eye movements were measured using search coil system. In the adaptive session, a target moved randomly in amplitude steps of 20° or 30°, with half of the subjects performing in the horizontal direction and the others in the vertical direction. The target eccentricity was changed by a constant percentage (70%) during each saccade aimed at the target. Gains were gradually decreased during the course of 120 repetitions, and then approached approximately 70%. Comparison was made of the accuracy (saccadic amplitude/first target step amplitude) of horizontal and vertical vectors of oblique saccades before and after the adaptation. After the horizontal adaptation, the accuracy of horizontal vectors decreased in the horizontal direction (P<0.05) but not in the vertical direction. After the vertical adaptation, however, the accuracy of horizontal and vertical vectors did not decrease. Our data show that adaptive gain control in the horizontal direction might not transfer to that in the vertical direction, nor vice versa.