The Canine Ocular Motility Laboratory
(COMLAB)

In 1991, Dr. Robert Williams of the University of Tennessee, Memphis, contacted Dr. Dell'Osso after noting that members of a family of Belgian sheepdogs born without an optic chiasm had ocular oscillations. He sent a video of these movements to Dr. Dell'Osso for his opinion. The eye movements appeared to be the canine equivalent of childhood nystagmus (i.e., congenital nystagmus, or CN) with an additional nystagmus, see-saw nystagmus (SSN), superimposed. The only way to confirm that was to record the eye movements of these dogs. However, research of the literature found no mention of canine eye movements, neither the methodology needed nor their characteristics. During an initial visit to Memphis in 1992, Drs. Dell'Osso and Williams made preliminary eye-movement recordings at the University of Tennessee Animal Facility (UTAF) and confirmed both the CN and SSN in the dogs with achiasma. In order to make more accurate eye-movement recordings, Drs. Dell'Osso, Williams, and Jacobs (in 1995) designed and constructed* the Canine Ocular Motility Laboratory (COMLAB), a semi-mobile facility that was based in Memphis in the UTAF for several years while this collaborative study was made.
* To ensure maximum comfort and the absence of stress for the dogs during recordings, they were suspended in a special sling apparatus using body-fitted "corsets" used in veterinary hospitals for dogs undergoing post-surgical recovery. In addition, we constructed muzzle rests from foam-filled, leather-covered umpires masks. These were placed below the dogs' muzzles and allowed them to rest their heads comfortably. As the photos below demonstrate, the COMLAB apparatus can accommodate dogs of all sizes, from small puppies to large adults.