To determine whether dynamic visual acuity (DVA) during head rotations on the stationary body can lateralize unilateral vestibular deafferentation and detect non-labyrinthine compensation mechanisms, 15 normal and 11 subjects with unilateral vestibular deafferentation underwent manually imposed and self-generated transient yaw head rotations during measurement of binocular DVA. DVA was measured by a four-alternative, forced choice, staircase procedure with optotype presentation only when head velocity exceeded thresholds of 50 degree or 75 degree/s. Eye and head movements were recorded using search coils to characterize ocular motor strategies. During directionally unpredictable, manually imposed contralesional rotation, unilaterally deafferented subjects had decreases in DVA from the static condition of 0.36 +/- 0.22 and 0.47 +/- 0.53 log of the minimum angle resolvable (logMAR, mean +/- SD), respectively, for 50 degree and 75 degree/s thresholds, not significantly greater than those of normal subjects (0.26 +/- 0.13 and 0.36 +/- 0.14, P>0.05). However, during manually imposed ipsilesional rotation, vestibulopathic subjects had decreases in DVA of 0.66 +/- 0.36 and 1.08 +/- 0.47 logMAR, significantly greater than during contralesional rotation ( P<0.01). The DVA reduction difference for the ipsi- and contralesional directions was less during self-generated than during manually imposed head rotations. The directional difference for manually administered head rotations yielded a robust diagnostic measure with essentially no overlap in performance with normal subjects. Diagnostic performance for DVA during self-generated head rotation was poorer. Recordings of eye and head movements made using search coils during DVA testing confirmed a deficient vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) during ipsilesional rotation, with most unilaterally vestibulopathic subjects employing predictive smooth eye movements and vestibular catch-up saccades. Measurement of DVA during transient head rotation on the body thus reliably can detect and lateralize vestibular pathology and compensatory mechanisms. Extravestibular mechanisms for compensation appear more effective during self-generated than manually imposed head rotations.