Effects of Heavy Water and Alcohol on the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex of the Rabbit

Abstract

It is well known that administration of some substances whose specific gravity and density are different from those of body fluid causes positional nystagmus.
In this study, we investigated the effects of administration of D₂₀ as a negative geotropic nystagmus inducer and alcohol as a positive nystagmus inducer on the quantitative assay of positional nystagmus as well as on the gain and phase of vestiburoocular reflex of the rabbits. In addition, based on the results obtained in this experiment, we have made some studies about the mechanism of phase lag of VOR observed in patients of Meniere's disease.