Ocular bobbing is characterized by spontaneous downward deviations of the eyes that occur in patients with advanced pontine disease. In the present report, four cases of bobbing are described. The location and extent of the brain stem lesion was different in each case. The cases had several clinical features in common, such as a comatose state, abnormalities of horizontal eye movement in response to labyrinthine stimulation, and severe postural changes following nociceptive stimulation. The possible interpretation of bobbing as a release phenomena and its prognostic value were discussed.