Central Vestibular Compensation: Effect of the Bilateral Labyrinthectomy on Neural Activity in the Medial Vestibular Nucleus

Responses of caudal vestibular nucleus neurons of conscious cats to rotations in vertical planes, before and after a bilateral vestibular neurectomy

“…This finding is in agreement with prior observations in guinea pigs (Ris and Godaux 1998), but contradicts a previous study in cats indicating that normal spontaneous activity did not return to the vestibular nuclei until a week after a bilateral labyrinthectomy (Ryu and McCabe 1976). Moderate-amplitude tilts (15°) produced consistent modulation of the activity of a small subset of CVN neurons in two of three animals.…”

Neural Correlates of Sensory Substitution in Vestibular Pathways following Complete Vestibular Loss

“…While inhibitory commissural inputs play a vital role in the initial recovery after unilateral lesion, the vestibular symptoms in Bechterew's phenomenon are most likely due to disfacilitation of neurons contralesional to the second lesion (Bergquist et al, 2008). In the present study, we found that the resting activities of neurons were, unexpectedly, comparable to normal conditions as is the case following simultaneous bilateral labyrinthectomy (Ryu and McCabe, 1976; Ris and Godaux, 1998). However, it is possible that changes in commissural inputs after the first lesion altered the time course of the appearance of extra-vestibular inputs observed following the second lesion.…”

Integration of nonlabyrinthine inputs by the vestibular system: Role in compensation following bilateral damage to the inner ear

“…Although an initial study suggested that spontaneous activity of vestibular nucleus neurons was depressed for a period following a bilateral vestibular neurectomy [24], more recent work showed that the firing of these neurons returns to pre-lesion levels within days after elimination of labyrinthine inputs [16,21]. For example, Fig.…”

“…Although an initial study suggested that spontaneous activity of vestibular nucleus neurons was depressed for a period following a bilateral vestibular neurectomy [24], more recent work showed that the firing of these neurons returns to pre-lesion levels within days after elimination of labyrinthine inputs [16, 21]. For example, Figure 2 compares the rate and regularity of neuronal firing in the caudal regions of the vestibular nuclei of conscious cats determined before and during the first week subsequent to a bilateral vestibular neurectomy.…”