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Midbrain Control of Three-Dimensional Head Orientation
Eliana M. Klier,Hongying Wang,Alina G. Constantin,J. Douglas Crawford*
Little is known about the neural mechanisms controlling head
posture and why they fail in clinical syndromes like torticollis.It is
well established, however, that the brain controls eye positionby
integrating eye velocity commands. By electrically stimulatingand
reversibly inactivating midbrain sites in the head-free
(nonimmobilized)monkey, we found that the interstitial nucleus of
Cajal functionsas a neural integrator for head posture. We suggest
that a bilateralimbalance in this structure, through either direct
damage or inappropriateinput, could be one of the mechanisms
underlying torticollis.
CIHR Group for Action and Perception, York Centre for Vision
Research and Departments of Psychology, Biology and Kinesiology & Health Sciences, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
jdc{at}yorku.ca
