Smith Paul F, Zheng Yiwen, Horii Arata, Darlington Cynthia L
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
J Vestib Res. 2005;15(1):1-9.
For more than a decade, evidence from animal studies has suggested that damage to the vestibular system leads to deficits in spatial navigation which are indicative of impaired spatial learning and memory. More recently, direct evidence has emerged to demonstrate that humans with vestibular disorders exhibit a range of cognitive deficits that are not just spatial in nature, but also include non-spatial functions such as object recognition memory. Vestibular dysfunction has been shown to adversely affect attentional processes and increased attentional demands can worsen the postural sway associated with vestibular disorders. Recent MRI studies also show that humans with bilateral vestibular damage undergo atrophy of the hippocampus which correlates with their degree of impairment on spatial memory tasks. These results are consistent with those from animal studies and, together, suggest that humans with vestibular disorders are likely to experience cognitive dysfunction which is not necessarily related to any particular episode of vertigo or dizziness, and therefore may occur even in patients who are otherwise well compensated. These findings may be related to the observation that patients with vestibular deficits experience a high incidence of depression and anxiety disorders.
十多年来，动物研究的证据表明，前庭系统受损会导致空间导航能力缺陷，这表明空间学习和记忆受损。最近，有直接证据表明，患有前庭障碍的人类表现出一系列认知缺陷，这些缺陷不仅本质上是空间性的，还包括物体识别记忆等非空间功能。前庭功能障碍已被证明会对注意力过程产生不利影响，而增加的注意力需求会使与前庭障碍相关的姿势摇摆恶化。最近的MRI研究还表明，双侧前庭损伤的人类会出现海马萎缩，这与他们在空间记忆任务上的受损程度相关。这些结果与动物研究的结果一致，共同表明，患有前庭障碍的人类可能会经历认知功能障碍，这不一定与任何特定的眩晕或头晕发作有关，因此即使在其他方面得到良好代偿的患者中也可能发生。这些发现可能与以下观察结果有关：前庭功能缺陷的患者患抑郁症和焦虑症的发生率很高。
