The effect of rotatory stimulation on the movements of the head and eyes in newborn and young kittens

Development of the Superior Colliculus/Optic Tectum

“…Such electrical stimulation elicits eye, ear, neck, whisker, and limb movements, albeit with a higher threshold and lower reliability than in adults. It would also be consistent with the idea (e.g., see Hein et al, 1979) that eye-movement-generated movement of an image across the retina is necessary for interpreting that visual image and that during development, the former precedes the latter (though spontaneous or vestibular cues could produce the necessary eye movements in neonatal cats; Fish and Windle, 1932;Windle and Fish, 1932). Stimulation of homotopic loci in each SC produces mirror-image eye movements.…”

Origin and prenatal growth of behavior.

“…crown-rump length, that is, on the fifty-fourth day of gestation. These same investigators (120) have considered the onset of rotary and post-rotary nystagmus in the eyes of newborn cats.…”

Ontogenetic development and maintenance of compensatory eye movements in complete absence of the optic nerve.

“…That the essential reflex relations in the case of the compensatory eye movements may be laid down directly in development without practice is strongly suggested by the fact that in some vertebrates, including man (1, 7) the reflexes are already moderately well developed at birth. On the other hand the fact that the reflexes at birth are usually somewhat immature and improve rapidly with the onset of vision, and the fact that in other animals appearance of the reflexes is delayed after birth until the eyes have opened (6) imply that sight of the visual field may possibly have significant regulative influence in their organisation. Variations in the degree of development of the reflexes at the onset of vision and in the extent to which the reflexes are controlled directly by visual stimuli makes generalizations from one species to another difficult at present.…”