Analysis of ocular movements by means of an electrical method.

THE PRESENT investigation is directed toward a study of the eye movements and the extrinsic ocular muscles during movements. Such movements have been studied extensively and have recently been reviewed by Marg.1The methods used consisted substantially in the recording of the electrical potentials, picked up by means of electrodes placed behind the external canthi of the subject, showing the movement of the eyes. Fenn and Hursch2have demonstrated that a relationship exists between these potentials and the angular position of the eyeball. These methods do not permit a simple analysis of the velocity and acceleration of the eyeball at any time. The method communicated in the present paper is intended to give a direct record of these physical magnitudes, and it also permits measurement of the forces exercised by the extrinsic ocular muscles. In these experiments the cornea-retinal potentials are picked up with two electrodes, amplified, and