Principal Fourier component of motion stimulus dominates the initial optokinetic response in mice

Optokinetic responses (OKRs) are reflexive eye movements elicited by a moving visual pattern, and have been recognized in a variety of species. Several brainstem and cortical structures are known to be implicated in the generation of OKRs in primates, while the OKRs of afoveate mammals have been posited to be dominated by subcortical structures. To understand the subcortical mechanism underlying OKRs, the initial OKRs to horizontal quarter-wavelength steps applied to vertical grating patterns were studied in adult C57BL/6J mice under the monocular viewing conditions. The initial OKRs to sinusoidal gratings showed directional asymmetry with temporal-to-nasal predominance, a common characteristic of afoveate mammals that uses the subcortical structures to elicit OKRs. We then examined whether the OKRs of afoveate mammals are driven by the same visual features of the moving images as those in primates. The OKRs in mice were elicited by using the missing fundamental (mf) stimuli and its variants that had been used to understand the mechanism(s) underlying the cortical control of eye movements in primates. We obtained the results indicating that the OKRs of mice are driven by the principal Fourier component of moving visual image as in primates despite the differences in neural circuitries.

► We examined initial OKRs of C57BL/6J mice under the monocular viewing condition.
► The OKRs were elicited by 1/4-wavelength steps of sinusoidal or composite gratings.
► Sin-wave gratings elicited the OKRs with a band-pass dependence on spatial frequency.
► The initial OKRs showed directional asymmetry with temporal-to-nasal predominance.
► The OKRs to the composite gratings were driven by its principal Fourier component.