Recovery of vestibulo-ocular reflex-function in subjects with an acute unilateral peripheral vestibular deficit

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H.J. Allum ◽  
T. Ledin
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vestibular Function ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Horizontal Semicircular Canal ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Central Compensation ◽  
Head Rotations ◽  
Vestibular Deficit

The centrally controlled compensation for a reduced horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain caused by a unilateral afferent deficit is usually studied following a selective surgical procedure which completely lesions the vestibular nerve or blocks the horizontal semicircular canal. The more common, unilateral, vestibular deficit encountered clinically, is a partial loss of peripheral vestibular function, following which peripheral recovery and/or central compensation may occur. We investigated changes of the VOR gain in response to a sudden, idiopathic, unilateral vestibular deficit in 64 subjects by examining the responses to low-frequency, whole-body, rotations about an earth vertical axis with different accelerations (5, 20 and 40 deg / sec 2 ) during in- and out-patient visits separated by 4 months in an attempt to identify changes brought about by peripheral recovery and by central compensation processes. Peripheral function was assumed to be measured by the response to caloric irrigation. It improved some 30% between the two visits. VOR responses for rotations towards the deficit side also improved between the two visits. Most improvement occurred for 20 deg / sec 2 accelerations. However, the correlation coefficient between rotation and caloric responses was always less than 0.6. Unlike caloric responses which improved over time, responses for rotations to the intact side did not change between the visits. For this reason, the majority of observed VOR rotation responses were nearly symmetrical at the time of the second visit, despite being below normal levels. These findings suggest that both peripheral recovery and central compensation processes help restore symmetrical VOR function for head rotations after a partial unilateral vestibular deficit. However the improvement of VOR response symmetry, particularly to slow ( < 40 deg / sec 2 ) accelerations, is largely independent of the recovery of peripheral sensitivity.

Anterior canal neurons in cat vestibular nuclei have large phase leads during low frequency vertical axis pitch

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 245-256
Author(s):  
Sandra C. Brettler ◽  
James F. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Vestibular Nuclei ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Posterior Canal ◽  
Spatial Sensitivity ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibular Afferents ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Anterior Canal

Vestibulo-ocular and second-order neurons in medial and superior vestibular nuclei of alert cats were identified by antidromic and orthodromic electrical stimulation, and their responses to whole body rotations were recorded in the dark. Neurons that had spatial sensitivity most closely aligned with the anterior canal (anterior canal neurons) were compared with neurons that had spatial sensitivity most closely aligned with the posterior canal (posterior canal neurons). Responses were recorded during low frequency earth-horizontal axis pitch rotations in the normal upright posture, and during earth-vertical axis pitch with the head and body lying on the left side. During upright pitch, response phases of anterior canal neurons slightly lagged those of posterior canal neurons or primary vestibular afferents, as previously reported. During on-side pitch, anterior canal neurons showed far greater phase leads with respect to head velocity than posterior canal neurons, primary vestibular afferents, or previously reported vestibulo-ocular reflex eye movements. These results provide challenges for vestibulo-ocular reflex models to incorporate central mechanisms for phase leads among the inputs to anterior canal neurons and to explain how the anterior canal neuron signals reported here combine with other signals to produce observed vestibulo-ocular reflex behavior.

Torsional vestibulo-ocular reflex during whole-body oscillation in the upright and the supine position: II. Responses in patients after vestibular neuritis

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-359
Author(s):  
A. Schmid-Priscoveanu ◽  
A.A. Kori ◽  
D. Straumann
Keyword(s):  
Supine Position ◽  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Phase Changes ◽  
Vestibular Neuritis ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Phase Lead ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex

In a recent study we demonstrated that otolith input modifies the torsional angular vestibulo-ocular reflex (torVOR) of healthy human subjects: Compared to turntable oscillations in supine position, oscillations in upright position increased the gain of torVOR by 0.1 and cancelled the phase lead originating from low-frequency semicircular canal signals. We asked whether these otolith-related changes of torVOR are still present in patients after vestibular neuritis (VN). Eight patients were sinusoidally oscillated about their naso-occipital axis in supine (canal-only stimulation) and upright (canal-and-otolith stimulation) position. Three-dimensional eye movements were recorded with dual search coils. The patients showed similar otolith-related gain and phase changes of the torVOR as healthy subjects: the gain increased by about 0.1 (p < 0.05) and the low-frequency phase lead from semicircular canal signals was abolished. These results indicate that otolith function after VN is still sufficient to interact with semicircular canal signals to optimize torsional gaze stabilization when the head is upright.

scholarly journals New advances regarding adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 644-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Schubert ◽  
Americo A. Migliaccio
Keyword(s):  
Training Session ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Velocity Error ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vor Adaptation ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Repeated Training ◽  
Head Rotations ◽  
Efferent Vestibular System

This is a review summarizing the development of vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) adaptation behavior with relevance to rehabilitation over the last 10 years and examines VOR adaptation using head-on-body rotations, specifically the influence of training target contrast, position and velocity error signal, active vs. passive head rotations, and sinusoidal vs. head impulse rotations. This review discusses optimization of the single VOR adaptation training session, consolidation between repeated training sessions, and dynamic incremental VOR adaptation. Also considered are the effects of aging and the roles of the efferent vestibular system, cerebellum, and otoliths on angular VOR adaptation. Finally, this review examines VOR adaptation findings in studies using whole body rotations.

scholarly journals Relation Between Perception of Vertical Axis Rotation and Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Symmetry

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Robert J. Peterka ◽  
Martha S. Benolken
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Rotational Velocity ◽  
Vestibular Function ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Perceptual Bias ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Small Constant ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Axis Rotation

Subjects seated in a vertical axis rotation chair controlled their rotational velocity by adjusting a potentiometer. Their goal was to null out pseudorandom rotational perturbations in order to remain perceptually stationary. Most subjects showed a slow linear drift of velocity (a constant acceleration) to one side when they were deprived of an earth-fixed visual reference. The amplitude and direction of this drift can be considered a measure of a static bias in a subject’s perception of rotation. The presence of a perceptual bias is consistent with a small, constant imbalance of vestibular function that could be of either central or peripheral origin. Deviations from perfect vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) symmetry are also assumed to be related to imbalances in either peripheral or central vestibular function. We looked for correlations between perceptual bias and various measures of vestibular reflex symmetry that might suggest a common source for both reflexive and perceptual imbalances. No correlations were found. Measurement errors could not account for these results since repeated tests in the same subjects of both perceptual bias and VOR symmetry were well correlated.

Adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, subjective tilt, and motion sickness to head movements during short-radius centrifugation

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Laurence R. Young ◽  
Kathleen H. Sienko ◽  
Lisette E. Lyne ◽  
Heiko Hecht ◽  
Alan Natapoff
Keyword(s):  
Motion Sickness ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Rest Period ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Slow Phase ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Angular Velocities

Head movements made while the whole body is rotating at unusually high angular velocities (here with supine body position about an earth-vertical axis) result in inappropriate eye movements, sensory illusions, disorientation, and frequently motion sickness. We investigated the acquisition and retention of sensory adaptation to cross-coupled components of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) by asking eight subjects to make headturns while being rotated at 23 rpm on two consecutive days, and again a week later. The dependent measures were inappropriate vertical VOR, subjective tilt, and motion sickness in response to 90° yaw out-of-plane head movements. Motion sickness was evaluated during and following exposure to rotation. Significant adaptation effects were found for the slow phase velocity of vertical nystagmus, the reported magnitude of the subjective tilt experienced during head turns, and motion-sickness scores. Retention of adaptation over a six-day rest period without rotation occurred, but was not complete for all measures. Adaptation of VOR was fully maintained while subjective tilt was only partially maintained and motion-sickness scores continued to decrease. Practical implications of these findings are discussed with particular emphasis on artificial gravity, which could be produced in weightlessness by means of a short-radius (2 m) rotator.

Effect of aging on the otolith-ocular reflex

2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Furman ◽  
Mark S. Redfern
Keyword(s):  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Head Tilt ◽  
Vestibular Function ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Axis Rotation ◽  
Reflex Time

We assessed the influence of age on the otolith-ocular reflex and semicircular canal-otolith interaction. Healthy young (n=30) and healthy older (n=60) subjects were rotated about an earth vertical axis, and about a 30 degree off-vertical axis. Eye movements during and following rotation were recorded using electro-oculography. Results indicated that there were statistically significant changes in the otolith-ocular reflex and semicircular canal-otolith interaction as a function of age. The modulation component during off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR) was greater in the older group compard to the young adults, whereas the bias component was smaller with advanced age. The foreshortening of the vestibulo-ocular reflex time constant induced by post-rotatory head tilt following cessation of rotation was less prominent in the older group. There were no consistent changes in the semicircular canal-ocular reflex. Overall, response parameters showed more variability in the older subjects. We conclude that age related changes in the otolith-ocular reflex and semicircular canal-otolith interaction are a result primarily of a degradation of central vestibular processing of otolith signals rather than a decline of peripheral vestibular function.

Implications of Ewald's Second Law for the Evaluation of Vestibular Function

1979 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young S. Kim ◽  
Clifford G. Y. Lau ◽  
Herman A. Jenkins ◽  
Vicente Honrubia
Keyword(s):  
Vestibular System ◽  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Piecewise Linear ◽  
Vestibular Function ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Horizontal Semicircular Canal ◽  
Transfer Characteristics ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Ewald’S Second Law

The significance of Ewald's second law in the evaluation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) was Investigated using the transfer characteristics of the vestibular and VOR systems in normal rabbits and rabbits in which one horizontal semicircular canal had been blocked. The transfer characteristics of the vestibular system were derived from the experimental results reported by Goldberg and Fernandez in 1971. A comparison was made of the properties of the bilateral and monolateral VOR systems with the predictions of a piecewise linear model of the vestibular system. The data received quantitatively collaborate the prediction of Ewald's second law as ft applies to the VOR responses.

scholarly journals Asymmetric vestibular stimulation reveals persistent disruption of motion perception in unilateral vestibular lesions

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (5) ◽  
pp. 2819-2832 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Panichi ◽  
M. Faralli ◽  
R. Bruni ◽  
A. Kiriakarely ◽  
C. Occhigrossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motion Perception ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Large Error ◽  
Perceptual Bias ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Half Cycle ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Over Time

Self-motion perception was studied in patients with unilateral vestibular lesions (UVL) due to acute vestibular neuritis at 1 wk and 4, 8, and 12 mo after the acute episode. We assessed vestibularly mediated self-motion perception by measuring the error in reproducing the position of a remembered visual target at the end of four cycles of asymmetric whole-body rotation. The oscillatory stimulus consists of a slow (0.09 Hz) and a fast (0.38 Hz) half cycle. A large error was present in UVL patients when the slow half cycle was delivered toward the lesion side, but minimal toward the healthy side. This asymmetry diminished over time, but it remained abnormally large at 12 mo. In contrast, vestibulo-ocular reflex responses showed a large direction-dependent error only initially, then they normalized. Normalization also occurred for conventional reflex vestibular measures (caloric tests, subjective visual vertical, and head shaking nystagmus) and for perceptual function during symmetric rotation. Vestibular-related handicap, measured with the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) at 12 mo correlated with self-motion perception asymmetry but not with abnormalities in vestibulo-ocular function. We conclude that 1) a persistent self-motion perceptual bias is revealed by asymmetric rotation in UVLs despite vestibulo-ocular function becoming symmetric over time, 2) this dissociation is caused by differential perceptual-reflex adaptation to high- and low-frequency rotations when these are combined as with our asymmetric stimulus, 3) the findings imply differential central compensation for vestibuloperceptual and vestibulo-ocular reflex functions, and 4) self-motion perception disruption may mediate long-term vestibular-related handicap in UVL patients. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A novel vestibular stimulus, combining asymmetric slow and fast sinusoidal half cycles, revealed persistent vestibuloperceptual dysfunction in unilateral vestibular lesion (UVL) patients. The compensation of motion perception after UVL was slower than that of vestibulo-ocular reflex. Perceptual but not vestibulo-ocular reflex deficits correlated with dizziness-related handicap.

Cerebellectomy and the transfer function of the vestibulo-ocular reflex in the decerebrate cat

1972 ◽  
Vol 181 (1065) ◽  
pp. 353-374 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Semicircular Canals ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Decerebrate Cat ◽  
Velocity Feedback ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Decerebrate Cats

(1) Experiments are described in which the frequency transfer function of the vestibuloocular reflex in decerebrate cats is measured, for sinusoidal movements of the head about a vertical axis. (2) The frequency response is found to be flat over a range of frequencies from about 0.02 to 1 Hz. (3) By allowing for the combined transfer functions of the semicircular canals and eye mechanics, it is found that the nervous system is integrating the vestibular signal with respect to time in this range. (4) Evidence is adduced that this integration is not performed by means of velocity feedback from the eye. (5) It is found that cerebellectomy, or reversible cooling of the cerebellum, causes a marked cut in low-frequency gain that is compatible with the possibility that it is the cerebellum that is performing the integration.

Effect of Incisions in the Brainstem Commissural Network on the Short-Term Vestibulo-Ocular Adaptation of the CAT

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-239
Author(s):  
G. Cheron
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Optokinetic Reflex ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽  
Vor Adaptation

This study was intended to test the adaptive plasticity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex before and after either a midsagittal or parasagittal incision in the brainstem. Eye movements were measured with the electromagnetic search coil technique during the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VORD) in the dark, the optokinetic reflex (OKN), and the visuo-vestibular adaptive training procedure. Two types of visual-vestibular combined stimulation were applied by means of low frequency stimuli (0.05 to 0.10 Hz). In order to increase or decrease the VORD gain, the optokinetic drum was oscillated either 180∘ out-of-phase or in-phase with the vestibular stimulus turntable. This “training” procedure was applied for 4 hours. Initial measurements of the VORD were normal with a mean gain value of 0.92 ± 0.08. After 4 hours of “training” with the out-of-phase condition (180∘), VORD gain reached mean values of 1.33 ± 0.11 (n = 6 cats). In the in-phase combination, the mean VORD gain decreased from 1.0 to 0.63 ± 0.02 (n = 2 cats). No significant change of VORD phase was found in any of the cats. Midsagittal or parasagittal pontomedullary brainstem incisions were performed in 4 cats. Recovery of the VOR was tested on the 2nd, 7th, and 30th day after operation. After the 30th day, recovery of the VORD gain stabilized at about 66% of the initial preoperative value. At this stage of the recovery, the optokinetic response (OKN) of the midsagittal-Iesioned cats was practically normal: in the parasagittal-Jesioned cats, the postoperative OKN responses were asymmetric. After stabilization of recovery, lesioned cats were trained with the same adaptation procedure. Although the direct effect of the visuo-vestibular combined stimulation during the training was still operative in all lesioned cats, the adaptive plasticity was completely abolished by the lesions. These results suggest that the commissural brainstem network may play a crucial role in the acquisition of the forced VOR adaptation.

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