Ocular Motor and Vestibular Function in Neurometabolic, Neurogenetic, and Neurodegenerative Disorders

2018 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy M. Yorke ◽  
Laura Smith ◽  
Mitch Babcock ◽  
Bara Alsalaheen

Background: Sustaining a concussion commonly results in vestibular impairments that may be associated with balance deficits. To screen for vestibular impairments after a concussion, the Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) tool was developed. The relationship between the VOMS and other concussion screening tools, such as the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) and King-Devick (K-D), have not been explored. Hypotheses: (1) VOMS would provide reliable results and not provoke symptoms in healthy adolescents and (2) VOMS test items would measure related aspects of vestibular function that are not measured through the BESS or K-D. Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: A total of 105 healthy adolescents (53 male, 52 female; mean age, 15.4 years) completed the VOMS, BESS, and K-D tests. A subsample of 21 adolescents (16 male, 5 female; mean age, 15.5 years) completed the VOMS twice. Results: The median total symptom score for all 7 VOMS items was 0 (0-5). The majority of the individual VOMS test items total symptom scores demonstrated a significant correlation with each other ( rs = 0.25-0.66, P < 0.02). The individual VOMS items did not demonstrate a significant relationship to the BESS or K-D. VOMS items demonstrated high agreement in total symptom scores between testing trials, with near point convergence (NPC) distance demonstrating an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.89-0.98; P < 0.001). The MDC95 (minimal detectable change with 95 confidence) for NPC distance was 4 cm. Conclusion: The VOMS did not provoke vestibular symptoms in healthy adolescents. The VOMS items measured unique aspects of vestibular function other than those measured by the BESS or K-D with good reliability. Clinical Relevance: Clinicians should consider implementing the VOMS as part of a comprehensive concussion assessment if vestibular impairment is suspected. If NPC distance is measured twice, a difference of >4 cm would be considered real change outside of measurement error.


Eye ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
C A Antoniades ◽  
C Kennard

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Macher ◽  
Ivan Milenkovic ◽  
Tobias Zrzavy ◽  
Romana Höftberger ◽  
Stefan Seidel ◽  
...  

ObjectiveAnti-IgLON5 disease forms an interface between neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration and includes clinical phenotypes that are often similar to those of neurodegenerative diseases. An early diagnosis of patients with anti-IgLON5 disease and differentiation from neurodegenerative diseases is necessary and may have therapeutic implications.MethodsIn our small sample size study we investigated oculomotor function as a differentiating factor between anti-IgLON5 disease and neurodegenerative disorders. We examined ocular motor and vestibular function in four patients suffering from anti-IgLON5 disease using video-oculography (VOG) and a computer-controlled rotational chair system (sampling rate 60 Hz) and compared the data with those from ten age-matched patients suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and healthy controls (CON).ResultsPatients suffering from anti-IgLON5 disease differed from PSP most strikingly in terms of saccade velocity and accuracy, the presence of square wave jerks (SWJ) (anti-IgLON5 0/4 vs. PSP 9/10) and the clinical finding of supranuclear gaze palsy (anti-IgLON5 1/4). The presence of nystagmus, analysis of smooth pursuit eye movements, VOR and VOR suppression was reliable to differentiate between the two disease entities. Clear differences in all parameters, although not always significant, were found between all patients and CON.DiscussionWe conclude that the use of VOG as a tool for clinical neurophysiological assessment can be helpful in differentiating between patients with PSP and patients with anti-IgLON5 disease. VOG could have particular value in patients with suspected PSP and lack of typical Parkinson’s characteristics. future trials are indispensable to assess the potential of oculomotor function as a biomarker in anti-IgLON5 disease.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1432-1441 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Talkowski ◽  
M. S. Redfern ◽  
J. R. Jennings ◽  
J. M. Furman

This study investigated the role of cognition in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and ocular pursuit using a dual-task paradigm in patients with unilateral peripheral vestibular loss and healthy adults. We hypothesized that cognitive resources are involved in successful processing and integration of vestibular and ocular motor sensory information, and this requirement would be greater in patients with vestibular dys-function. Sixteen well-compensated patients with surgically confirmed absent unilateral peripheral vestibular function and 16 healthy age-and sex-matched controls underwent seven combinations of vestibular-only, visual-only, and visual-vestibular stimuli while performing three different information processing tasks. Visual-vestibular stimuli included a semi-circular canal and an otolith stimulus provided through seated chair rotations; fixation on a laser target and sinusoidal smooth pursuit while still; and fixation on a head-fixed laser target during chair rotations. The information processing tasks were three different auditory reaction time (RT) tasks: (1) simple RT (2) disjunctive RT, and (3) choice RT. Our results showed increases in RTs in both patients and controls under all vestibular-only stimulation conditions and during ocular pursuit. Patients showed greater increases in RTs during vestibular stimulation and the more complex disjunctive and choice RT tasks. No differences between the groups were found during the visual-only or visual-vestibular interaction conditions. These results reveal interference between vestibulo-ocular processing and a concurrent RT task, suggesting that the VOR and the ocular motor system are dependent upon cognitive resources to some extent, and thus, are not fully automatic systems. We speculate that this interference with cognition occurs as a result of the sensory integration required for resolving inputs from multiple sensory streams. The particularly large decrement in information processing task performance of the patients compared with controls during vestibular stimulation suggests that compensation for unilateral vestibular loss requires continued cognitive resources.


Author(s):  
G. M. Cohen ◽  
J. S. Grasso ◽  
M. L. Domeier ◽  
P. T. Mangonon

Any explanation of vestibular micromechanics must include the roles of the otolithic and cupular membranes. However, micromechanical models of vestibular function have been hampered by unresolved questions about the microarchitectures of these membranes and their connections to stereocilia and supporting cells. Otolithic membranes are notoriously difficult to preserve because of severe shrinkage and loss of soluble components. We have empirically developed fixation procedures that reduce shrinkage artifacts and more accurately depict the spatial relations between the otolithic membranes and the ciliary bundles and supporting cells.We used White Leghorn chicks, ranging in age from newly hatched to one week. The inner ears were fixed for 3-24 h in 1.5-1.75% glutaraldehyde in 150 mM KCl, buffered with potassium phosphate, pH 7.3; when postfixed, it was for 30 min in 1% OsO4 alone or mixed with 1% K4Fe(CN)6. The otolithic organs (saccule, utricle, lagenar macula) were embedded in Araldite 502. Semithin sections (1 μ) were stained with toluidine blue.


2014 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 69-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ko-Fan Chen ◽  
Damian C. Crowther

The formation of amyloid aggregates is a feature of most, if not all, polypeptide chains. In vivo modelling of this process has been undertaken in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster with remarkable success. Models of both neurological and systemic amyloid diseases have been generated and have informed our understanding of disease pathogenesis in two main ways. First, the toxic amyloid species have been at least partially characterized, for example in the case of the Aβ (amyloid β-peptide) associated with Alzheimer's disease. Secondly, the genetic underpinning of model disease-linked phenotypes has been characterized for a number of neurodegenerative disorders. The current challenge is to integrate our understanding of disease-linked processes in the fly with our growing knowledge of human disease, for the benefit of patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-198
Author(s):  
Cynthia G. Fowler ◽  
Margaret Dallapiazza ◽  
Kathleen Talbot Hadsell

Purpose Motion sickness (MS) is a common condition that affects millions of individuals. Although the condition is common and can be debilitating, little research has focused on the vestibular function associated with susceptibility to MS. One causal theory of MS is an asymmetry of vestibular function within or between ears. The purposes of this study, therefore, were (a) to determine if the vestibular system (oculomotor and caloric tests) in videonystagmography (VNG) is associated with susceptibility to MS and (b) to determine if these tests support the theory of an asymmetry between ears associated with MS susceptibility. Method VNG was used to measure oculomotor and caloric responses. Fifty young adults were recruited; 50 completed the oculomotor tests, and 31 completed the four caloric irrigations. MS susceptibility was evaluated with the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire–Short Form; in this study, percent susceptibility ranged from 0% to 100% in the participants. Participants were divided into three susceptibility groups (Low, Mid, and High). Repeated-measures analyses of variance and pairwise comparisons determined significance among the groups on the VNG test results. Results Oculomotor test results revealed no significant differences among the MS susceptibility groups. Caloric stimuli elicited responses that were correlated positively with susceptibility to MS. Slow-phase velocity was slowest in the Low MS group compared to the Mid and High groups. There was no significant asymmetry between ears in any of the groups. Conclusions MS susceptibility was significantly and positively correlated with caloric slow-phase velocity. Although asymmetries between ears are purported to be associated with MS, asymmetries were not evident. Susceptibility to MS may contribute to interindividual variability of caloric responses within the normal range.


Author(s):  
Davor Petrović ◽  
Vida Čulić ◽  
Zofia Swinderek-Alsayed

AbstractJoubert syndrome (JS) is a rare congenital, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a distinctive brain malformation, developmental delay, ocular motor apraxia, breathing abnormalities, and high clinical and genetic heterogeneity. We are reporting three siblings with JS from consanguineous parents in Syria. Two of them had the same homozygous c.2172delA (p.Trp725Glyfs*) AHI1 mutation and the third was diagnosed prenatally with magnetic resonance imaging. This pathogenic variant is very rare and described in only a few cases in the literature. Multinational collaboration could be of benefit for the patients from undeveloped, low-income countries that have a low-quality health care system, especially for the diagnosis of rare diseases.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document