Contributor. Gordon K. Klintworth
There are many different types of nystagmus. Some are congenital [nystagmus - congenital motor]; other types are acquired.  Regardless of the mode of inheritance the visual acuity and eye movement recordings are indistinguishable. Congenital motor nystagmus needs to be differentiated from other ocular diseases of infancy that are associated with nystagmus (albinism, achromatopsia, Leber congenital amaurosis, congenital cataract [cataract - congenital]). X-linked conditions associated with nystagmus include Nettleship-Falls albinism, complete congenital stationary night blindness [night blindness - congenital stationary complete], and blue cone monochromacy. A tenotomy can lead to a significant improvement in individuals with the infantile nystagmus syndrome [nystagmus - syndrome infantile]. Numerous types of nystagmus are recognized amaurotic nystagmus, amblyopic nystagmus, ataxic nystagmus, caloric nystagmus, central nystagmus, Cheyne nystagmus, congenital nystagmus, convergence nystagmus, disjunctive nystagmus, dissociated nystagmus, downbeat nystagmus, end-position nystagmus, fixation nystagmus, galvanic nystagmus, gaze nystagmus, jerk nystagmus, latent nystagmus, lateral nystagmus, miner's nystagmus, opticokinetic nystagmus (optokinietic nystagmus and railroad nystagmus), palatal nystagmus (also known as palatal myoclonus), paretic nystagmus, pendular nystagmus (also known as ossilating nystagmus, undulatory nystagmus, and vibratory nystagmus), periodic alternating nystagmus, positional nystagmus, retraction nystagmus (also known as nystagmus retractorius), rotatory nystagmus, secondary nystagmus, see-saw nystagmus, spontaneous nystagmus, unilateral nystagmus, upbeat nystagmus, vertical nystagmus, vestibular nystagmus(also known as aural nystagmus and labyrinthine nystagmus), and voluntary nystagmus. Speciific types occur in certain disorders. De Morsier syndrome (see-saw nystagmus). Lesions causing vestibular nystagmus may be located in the vestibular labyrinths [labyrinthitis, Mèniére disease], brainstem and cerebellum (involving the vestibular nuclei, and connections to the flocculonodular lobes of the cerebellum), or eighth cranial nerve [vestibular neuritis].