An optokinetic drum—also called catford drum—is a rotating instrument to test
vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
in which individuals are seated facing the wall of the drum. The interior surface of the drum is normally striped; thus, as the drum rotates, the subject's eyes are subject to a moving visual field while the subject remains stationary, this phenomenon is called
optokinetic nystagmus
The optokinetic response is a combination of a slow-phase and fast-phase eye movements. It is seen when an individual tracks (pursuit movement) a moving object with their eyes, which then moves out of the field of vision, a point at which their ...
. The speed of the drum and the duration of the test may be varied.
Control groups
In the design of experiments, hypotheses are applied to experimental units in a treatment group.
In comparative experiments, members of a control group receive a standard treatment, a placebo, or no treatment at all. There may be more than one t ...
are placed in a drum without stripes or rotation. After exposure to the rotating drum, subjects are surveyed to determine their susceptibility to
motion sickness
Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...
. A study in which the optokinetic drum was used to test the symptoms of the
sopite syndrome
The sopite syndrome (; Latin: sopire, "to lay to rest, to put to sleep") is a neurological disorder that relates symptoms of fatigue, drowsiness, and mood changes to prolonged periods of motion. raybiel, A., & Knepton, J. (1976), "Sopite Syndrome ...
showed increased
mood changes
A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning, or be disruptive. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as par ...
in response to the visual cues, though these effects were compounded by other environmental factors such as
boredom
In conventional usage, boredom, ennui, or tedium is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occu ...
and lack of
activity.
[Kiniorski, E. T., Weider, S. K., Finley, J. R., Fitzgerald, E. M., Howard, J. C., Di Nardo, P. A., et al. (2004). Sopite symptoms in the optokinetic drum. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 75(10), 872-875.]
See also
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Electrooculography
Electrooculography (EOG) is a technique for measuring the corneo-retinal standing potential that exists between the front and the back of the human eye. The resulting signal is called the electrooculogram. Primary applications are in ophthalmol ...
*
International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision The International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) is an association that promotes research and applications of electrophysiological methods (e.g. electroretinogram, electrooculogram, and visual evoked potentials) in clin ...
*
Nystagmus
Nystagmus is a condition of involuntary (or voluntary, in some cases) eye movement. Infants can be born with it but more commonly acquire it in infancy or later in life. In many cases it may result in reduced or limited vision. Due to the invol ...
*
Orthoptist
Orthoptics is a profession allied to the eye care profession. Orthoptists are the experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movements and problems with how the eyes work together, called binocular vision. These can be caused by issues with ...
References
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Electrodiagnosis
Eye procedures
Electrophysiology
Neurophysiology
Neurotechnology