J Korean Neurosurg Soc.  1977 Dec;6(2):293-302.

An Investigation on the Circling Gait following Cerebral Hemispherectomy

• Park KS
• Sim BS

Abstract

It is well known that after removal of one cerebral hemisphere all experimental animals, such as monkeys, dogs, cats and rabbits, circle in walking toward the side of the lesion with deviation of head and eyes to the same side for a while. However, the cause of circling gait following cerebral hemispherectomy is not clearly established. In this experiments physiological phenomena were observed in the dog and rabbit following unilateral or bilateral frontal or occipital lobectomies or partial ablations, parietal lobe lesions, section of unilateral optic nerve or optic tract. The results were as follows : 1) All experimental animals circled in walking toward the side of lesion with deviation of head and eyes to the same side for about one week following unilateral frontal lobectomy of partial ablation. There were transient motor weakness for a few days and pseudohemianopsia for about one week on the contralateral side. 2) Bilateral frontal lobectomies did not induce circling gait. But there was a lack of response to visual stimuli for a week. 3) Unilateral parietal lobe ablation did not induce circling gait nor pseudohemianopsia. 4) All experimental animals circled in walking toward the occipital lobectomized side for about 2 or 3 weeks, but deviation of head and eyes toward the side of lesion was not so evident as frontal lobectomized animals. The permanent neurological deficit was contralateral hemianopsia. 5) Bilateral occipital lobectomies was followed by a blindness in all experimental animals. They walked without a definite direction. 6) Section of unilateral optic nerve induced ipsilateral blindness. All experimental animals showed a tendency to walk toward the opposite side but did not circle in walking. 7) Section of unilateral optic tract induced permanent contralateral hemianopsia. All experimental animals circled in walking toward the side of the lesion of a while but deviation of the head was not evident. It is our conclusion that circling gait following cerebral hemispherectomy may be attributed by the permanent and transient hemianopsia and some neurological functional imbalance between the removed cerebral hemisphere, and the intact opposite cerebral hemisphere and brain stem.

MeSH Terms

Animals
Blindness
Brain Stem
Cats
Cerebrum
Dogs
Gait*
Haplorhini
Head
Hemianopsia
Hemispherectomy*
Optic Nerve
Parietal Lobe
Physiological Phenomena
Rabbits
Visual Pathways
Walking