Effects of Mental Activity on Vestibular Nystagmus and the Electroencephalogram

MOWRER1 noted differences in head nystagmus elicited by rotation under conditions of ‘excitement’ and ‘rest’ in pigeons. Wendt2 has indicated that “inward-directed revery states” reduce nystagmus and that the subject must “maintain an environment-directed orientation” to avoid replacement of nystagmus by wandering, autogenous eye movements. The present work was undertaken to ascertain how nystagmus, produced by a standard vestibular stimulus, is modified by different sets of instructions and, further, to determine the effects of these conditions on the electroencephalogram.