Extraocular motoneurons are located in three brainstem nuclei: the abducens, trochlear and oculomotor. They control all types of eye movements by innervating three pairs of agonistic/antagonistic extraocular muscles. They exhibit a tonic-phasic discharge pattern, demonstrating sensitivity to eye position and sensitivity to eye velocity. According to their innervation pattern, extraocular muscle fibers can be classified as singly innervated muscle fiber (SIF), or the peculiar multiply innervated muscle fiber (MIF). SIF motoneurons show anatomical and physiological differences with MIF motoneurons. The latter are smaller and display lower eye position and velocity sensitivities as compared with SIF motoneurons.
Keywords: Eye movements; Multiply-innervated fibers; Oculomotor system; Singly-innervated fibers; Synaptic stripping; Trophic factors; Vestibular system.
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