Adaptive Internal Models: Explaining the Oculomotor System and the Cerebellum

TL;DR

This paper introduces an adaptive internal model framework for the oculomotor system, explaining various eye movement behaviors by modeling interactions between the brainstem and cerebellum, supported by experimental data.

Contribution

It presents a novel, simple model based on adaptive internal models that captures oculomotor behaviors and proposes the cerebellum as an internal model of external signals.

Findings

Model recovers behaviors from over 15 experiments

Cerebellum embodies internal models of external signals

Explains oculomotor system dynamics effectively

Abstract

We propose a new model of the oculomotor system, particularly the vestibulo-ocular reflex, gaze fixation, and smooth pursuit. Our key insight is to exploit recent developments on adaptive internal models. The outcome is a simple model that includes the interactions between the brainstem and the cerebellum and that recovers behaviors from more than 15 oculomotor experiments. In addition, we put forward a thesis that the cerebellum embodies internal models of all persistent, exogenous reference and disturbance signals acting on the body and observable through the error signals it receives.