IMPAIRED SUPPRESSION OF VESTIBULAR NYSTAGMUS BY FIXATION OF VISUAL AND ACOUSTIC TARGETS IN NEUROLOGICAL PATIENTS*

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Abstract
Suppression of vestibular nystagmus induced by fixation of visual and acoustic\ud targets moving with the head during sinusoidal rotation (0.1 Hz, 75\ud degrees/second peak velocity) was tested in cerebellar and noncerebellar\ud patients. Visual suppression was impaired greatly in cerebellar patients, without\ud correlation with visual smooth-pursuit defects. Acoustic suppression was equal to\ud or slightly weaker than visual suppression. In noncerebellar patients, a\ud disturbance of visual suppression was found only in the presence of a severe\ud impairment of pursuit eye movements. Acoustic suppression did not parallel the\ud visual-suppression pattern. In clinical vestibular examination, an impaired\ud modulation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex suggests a cerebellar dysfunction, but \ud also can occur in the presence of disorders of other parts of the CNS severely\ud affecting the SP system