Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Eye Movement Disorders
When you look at an object, you're using several muscles to move both eyes to focus on it. If you have a problem with the muscles, the eyes don't work properly.
There are many kinds of eye movement disorders. Two common ones are:
- Strabismus - a disorder in which the two eyes don't line up in the same direction. This results in "crossed eyes" or "walleye."
- Nystagmus - fast, uncontrollable movements of the eyes, sometimes called "dancing eyes"
Some eye movement disorders are present at birth. Others develop over time and may be associated with other problems, such as injuries. Treatments include glasses, patches, eye muscle exercises, and surgery. There is no cure for some kinds of eye movement disorders, such as most kinds of nystagmus.
It sits within Eyes and Vision.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Eye Institute.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Eye Movement Disorders
673 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- The Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Clinical Trial PlatformAdam Boxer
- ARTFL LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ALLFTD)Mayo Clinic
- A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of NIO752 in Participants With Progressive Supranuclear PalsyNovartis Pharmaceuticals
- Remote Monitoring in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)Massachusetts General Hospital
- Investigating Complex Neurodegenerative Disorders Related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal DementiaNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
- Cholinergic Mechanisms of Attentional-motor Integration and Gait Dysfunction in Parkinson Disease (UDALL)University of Michigan
Research already completed
- The Occurrence of Emergence Agitation in Pediatric Strabismus SurgeryKonkuk University Medical Center
- First-in-Human Study for the Safety and Evaluation of Two 4R Tau Ligands as Potential PET Radioligands for Imaging Tau Protein in the BrainInvicro
- Bilateral Lateral Rectus Recession Versus Unilateral Recess-Resect for Intermittent ExotropiaJaeb Center for Health Research
- Effects of Gaze Stabilization Exercises and Optokinetic Training in Peripheral Vestibular DisordersFoundation University Islamabad
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
Diagnosis and Tests
- Dilating Eye DropsAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Strabismus MeasurementsAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Videonystagmography (VNG)National Library of Medicine
- Vision ScreeningNational Library of Medicine
Treatments and Therapies
- Anesthesia for Adults Having Eye SurgeryAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Eye muscle repair - seriesMedical Encyclopedia
- PrismsAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Strabismus SurgeryAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Vision TherapyAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
Related Issues
- Abnormal Head PositionAmerican Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
- Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Genetics
- About Duane SyndromeNational Human Genome Research Institute
- Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Duane-radial ray syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Isolated Duane retraction syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Progressive external ophthalmoplegia: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Statistics and Research
- Eye Health Data and StatisticsNational Eye Institute
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Nystagmus, PathologicNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Ocular Motility DisordersNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: StrabismusNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Ocular Motility Disorders. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Eye Movement Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.