Rotation axes of the head during positioning, head shaking, and locomotion

Static head orientations obey Donders' law and are postulated to be rotations constrained by a Fick gimbal. Head oscillations can be voluntary or generated during natural locomotion. Whether the rotation axes of the voluntary oscillations or during locomotion are constrained by the same gimbal is unknown and is the subject of this study. Head orientation was monitored with an Optotrak (Northern Digital). Human subjects viewed visual targets wearing pin-hole goggles to achieve static head positions with the eyes centered in the orbit. Incremental rotation axes were determined for pitch and yaw by computing the velocity vectors during head oscillation and during locomotion at 1.5 m/s on a treadmill. Static head orientation could be described by a generalization of the Fick gimbal by having the axis of the second rotation rotate by a fraction, k, of the angle of the first rotation without a third rotation. We have designated this as a k-gimbal system. Incremental rotation axes for both pitch and yaw oscillations were functions of the pitch but not the yaw head positions. The pivot point for head oscillations was close to the midpoint of the interaural line. During locomotion, however, the pivot point was considerably lower. These findings are well explained by an implementation of the k-gimbal model, which has a rotation axis superimposed on a Fick-gimbal system. This could be realized physiologically by the head interface with the dens and occipital condyles during head oscillation with a contribution of the lower spine to pitch during locomotion.