What is the "Follow My Finger" eye test for?

Question

I know this sounds silly to a bunch of optometrists, but I've never really understood the test and why they do it?

What is the point of the test?

Answer 1

this is a gross motor test to see if the eyes track in a co ordinated fashion>>>those eye test are a shiczophrenic mess if you took time to give every single test to every single eye you would have a lot of wasted efforts.

Answer 2

they changed because the "smell my finger" tests were not as accurate

Answer 3

To see if you CAN follow that finger. If not, they'll look for y u can't.

Answer 4

That tests the muscles of the eye, and the cranial nerves.

Answer 5

It is not an eye test per se but a neurological one.



When we think of testing for nystagmus, medical personnel and lay people alike, we tend to think of the horizontal gaze nystagmus test performed by police officers as part of the standard field sobriety test (SFST). It’s true that the police have taken this useful neurological exam and put it to good use to identify folks who may have had to much to drink. There are other good uses for the nystagmus test as well.



I use the horizontal gaze nystagmus test as a part of the basic neurological exam that I do any time I’m uncertain of how well a patients brain is talking with their body. Head injuries, altered mentation, syncope, dizziness and headaches are some of the common complaints that make me want to check out how well the patients brain is doing its job. So this test gets pulled out of the tool box frequently. But what is nystagmus anyway? How do you really test for it and what does it tell you when you find it?



What is nystagmus?



Imagine that I took a large drum and I painted it white with black stripes running evenly down it. Then I set the drum on an axis and spun it slowly in one direction. As you watched the drum your eyes would focus on a black stripe and follow it across the surface of the drum until the stripe moved out of visual range. Then your eyes would jump backward to acquire a new stripe and follow it. This repetitive cycle of smooth eye pursuit interrupted by fast twitches (saccadic movement) is what we call nystagmus.



This peculiar tracking of the eye can be induced by spinning in a chair, riding on a roller coaster or observing a spinning object like in the example above (AKA Opticokinetic nystagmus). It can also be caused by a wide variety of medical and pharmocological conditions. Most causes of nystagmus point to an abnormal condition within the nervous system. It is a physical finding that calls us to pay attention and look deeper. - http://theemtspot.com/2009/05/28/what-is-nystagmus/