Evaluating vestibular contributions to rotation and tilt perception

Vestibular perceptual testing from lab to clinic: a review

“…Individuals who have instead experienced a bilateral labyrinthectomy lack a vestibular system, and as such, produce no vestibular response to motion. As a result, studies that include individuals with BVL have primarily been conducted as a means to describe vestibular contributions to motion perception ( 62 , 63 ), rather than as a means to gain specific insights into a common patient population. Valko et al found that patients with BVL ( N = 3) had vestibular thresholds that were between 1.3 and 56.8 times greater than age-matched healthy controls ( N = 14) with the magnitude of the difference depending upon both the specific motion direction (interaural translation, superior–inferior translation, yaw rotation, and roll tilt) and frequency ( 62 ).…”

“…Valko et al found that patients with BVL ( N = 3) had vestibular thresholds that were between 1.3 and 56.8 times greater than age-matched healthy controls ( N = 14) with the magnitude of the difference depending upon both the specific motion direction (interaural translation, superior–inferior translation, yaw rotation, and roll tilt) and frequency ( 62 ). In a more recent study, Kobel and colleagues showed that vestibular thresholds for 2 individuals with BVL were between 2 and 35 times greater than healthy controls for a more comprehensive set of motions that included roll tilts (head rotated about an earth horizontal axis while sitting upright) and roll rotations (rotated about an earth vertical axis while supine) performed across a broad range of frequencies (0.2 to 2 Hz) ( 63 ). Together these studies highlight the dominance of vestibular inputs during vestibular thresholds assayed using a direction recognition task.…”

“…Table 1 summarizes several motion profiles commonly used to assay vestibular perceptual thresholds with predominant contributions from the various end-organs. This list is not all inclusive, but is instead based upon a recent series of empirical studies (53,56,(62)(63)(64). (30).…”