UR Faculty: Scott Seidman

Ph.D. (1993)
Case Western Reserve University

Scott Seidman
Assistant Professor
Neurobiology and Anatomy

For more details about Scott Seidman:

Go to the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy Website

Research: Vestibular systems, motor learning, physiological models, multisensory integration

Contact Information:
E-Mail: Scott_Seidman@urmc.rochester.edu

University of Rochester
601 Elmwood Ave, Box 603
Rochester, NY 14642

Medical Center 6-8543
Phone: (585) 273-2122
Fax: (585) 756-5198

Research Overview

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) maintains vision during angular (aVOR) and linear (lVOR) head movements by producing compensatory eye movements that stabilize images on the retina. Large neural transmission delays (>100 ms) in the visual system make feedback mechanisms impractical in maintaining performance, thus the VOR must function in an open-loop fashion. This leaves the VOR sensitive to disturbances of system parameters, such as occur naturally during development, disease, aging, and trauma. Fortunately, the VOR has evolved to correct for such disturbances. By employing the visual system as a monitor for persistent errors in the VOR response (retinal image slip), control mechanisms cause long-term parametric changes in vestibular pathways that restore proper function. This process has become known as adaptive plasticity. In addition to long-term adaptive changes, the VOR response is modulated in a more short-term fashion by a variety of other factors, including cognitive state and sensorimotor context. Similarly, the magnitude of the VOR response to head translation is modulated by target distance to produce the geometrically desirable ocular response, which increases in magnitude as the target draws closer to the subject. Recent experimental work has shown that the VOR during horizontal head rotation can be adapted to assume two different gains dependent on the vertical position of the eyes, demonstrating the ability of adaptation to produce different parametric changes for different contexts. This context-specific adaptation has profound implications for the study of motor control and adaptive plasticity, suggesting that the VOR and other motor control systems employ a control-surface organization in which certain state variables are monitored, and behavior appropriately modified. We are investigating this behavior in the vestibular system. Through adaptive paradigms we are characterizing the forms and limitations of context-specific behavior and motor learning. Further, we are developing of a control-surface model of VOR adaptive plasticity, which should prove a useful tool to better understand motor learning in the ocular motor system, with potential for broader implications as well as clinical relevance.

Recent Publications

Seidman, S. H. Statistical methods for the comparison of vestibular response vectors: Post hoc testing for phase differences. Program No. 168.14. 2005

Au Yong, N., Seidman, S.H., and Paige, G.D. 2001, Multi-modal cues underlying the perception of translational motion. The Society for the Neural Control of Movement Annual Meeting.

Au Yong, N., Seidman, S.H. and Paige, G.D. 2001, Multi-modal cues underlying the perception of translational motion.Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 26 Abstract 298.17

Paige, G.D., and Seidman, S.H. 2001, Tilt-translation ambiguity in the linear vestibulo-ocular reflex (LVOR). Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 26 Abstract 403.20.

Seidman, S.H., Paige, G.D., and Tomko. Adaptive plasticity in the naso-occipital linear vestibuloocular reflex. Exp. Brain Res., In Press.

Paige, G.D., Telford, L., Seidman, S.H., and Barnes, G.R. 1998, Human vestibuloocular reflex and its interactions with vision and fixation distance during linear and angular head movement. J. Neurophysiol., 80:2391-2404.

Seidman, S.H., Telford, L., and Paige, G.D. 1998, Tilt perception during dynamic linear acceleration. Exp. Brain Res., 119:307-314.

Seidman, S.H., Telford, L., Paige, G.D. 1996, Roll- and pitch-tilt perception and eye movement during low-frequency linear acceleration. Soci. Neurosci. Abstr., 22:1094.

Paige, G.D., Telford, L., Seidman, S.H., Boulos, P. 1996, The linear vestibulo-ocular reflex following labyrinthectomy. Soci. Neurosci. Abstr., 22:661.

Paige, G.D., Barnes, G.R., Telford, L., Seidman, S.H. 1996, The influence of sensori-motor context on the linear vestibulo-ocular reflex. Annals of the NY Acad. Sci.,781:322-331.

Seidman S.H., Paige, G.D. 1996, Perception and eye movement during low-frequency centripetal acceleration. Annals of the NY Acad. Sci., 781:693-695.

Telford, L., Seidman S.H., Paige, G.D. 1996, Canal-otolith interactions driving vertical and horizontal eye movements in the squirrel monkey. Exper. Brain Res., 109:407-418.

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