Disentangling the visual, motor and representational effects of vestibular input

Abstract

The body midline provides a basic reference for egocentric representation of external space. Clinical observations have suggested that vestibular information underpins egocentric representations. Here we aimed to clarify whether and how vestibular inputs contribute to egocentric representation in healthy volunteers. In a psychophysical task, participants were asked to judge whether visual stimuli were located to the left or to the right of their body midline. Artificial vestibular stimulation was applied to stimulate the vestibular organs. We found that artificial stimulation of the vestibular system biased body midline perception. Importantly, no effect was found on motor effector selection. We also ruled out additional explanations based on allocentric visual representations and on potential indirect effects caused by vestibular-driven movements of the eyes, head and body. Taken together our data suggest that vestibular information contributes to computation of egocentric representations by affecting the internal representation of the body midline.

Non-linear Amplification of Variability Through Interaction Across Scales Supports Greater Accuracy in Manual Aiming: Evidence From a Multifractal Analysis With Comparisons to Linear Surrogates in the Fitts Task

“…Expectation might provoke stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. Similarly, the strong relationships between the visual and vestibular systems (Abekawa et al, 2018; Ruhl et al, 2018) could explain these effects. However, qualifications, interactions, and context-sensitivities quickly clutter this seeming simplicity.…”

Shared contributions of the head and torso to spatial reference frames across spatial judgments

“…Various empirical and theoretical considerations have been advanced for why either the head ( Avillac, Denève, Olivier, Pouget, & Duhamel, 2005 ; Sherrington, 1907 ), the eyes ( Cohen & Andersen, 2002 ), or the torso ( Alsmith & Longo, 2014 ; Blanke, 2012 ; Grubb & Reed, 2002 ; Grush, 2000 ; Karnath, Schenkel, & Fischer, 1991 ; Serino et al, 2015 ) might have such a privileged role. Sherrington (1907) , for example, notes the wide range of sensory apparatus in the head, emphasising in particular the vestibular system's role in providing the overall posture of the whole body relative to gravity, a perspective also emphasised by recent research ( Abekawa, Ferrè, Gallagher, Gomi, & Haggard, 2018 ; Pavlidou, Ferrè, & Lopez, 2018 ). Other researchers have emphasised the torso's position as a stable anchor for the limbs and head ( Blanke, 2012 ; Grush, 2000 ), as “the great continent of the body” ( Alsmith & Longo, 2014 , pg.…”

Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation influences risk-taking behaviour

“…Thus, a completely opposite pattern of results should have been 1 observed. Further, recent studies excluded a direct influence of GVS on motor effectors 2 (Abekawa et al, 2018;Ferrè, Arthur, et al, 2013). 3…”