Muscle Mechanics and Dynamics of Ocular Motion

Amodel of the neuromuscular mechanics of horizontal eye motion is developed. The model of the oculomotor system that is presented incorporates known physiological dynamics and geometry of the musculotendon complex. Muscle force development is a described by a two-component version of Hill's model and consists of a passive and active contractile component. The active component includes the force-velocity and force-length characteristics of the muscle. The passive component accounts for elastic and viscous e ects. Activation dynamics couple the neural controls that are appropriate for saccadic movements to the muscle mechanics. Numerical simulations illustrate that the model successfully simulates saccadic movements and accurately depicts eye position and velocity and muscle tension.