Neuro-otology Unit, Imperial College London, Charing Cross Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Sep;1233:256-62. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06159.x.
Studies of compensation of injury to the human vestibular system have, in the main, focused on the vestibular-ocular reflex. Probing vestibular perception allows more of the sensory pathway to be assessed. We present a novel paradigm for simultaneously testing vestibular perceptual and nystagmic thresholds to angular acceleration around an earth vertical axis. The perceptual thresholds can be modulated asymmetrically in normal subjects by DC galvanic stimulation with the head flexed in the roll plane, as expected from the main torsional plane of action of the galvanic stimulus. The perceptual and nystagmic thresholds were bilaterally elevated in acute vestibular neuritis, a unilateral condition, possibly due to central suppression of vestibular input. The degree of asymmetry in thresholds was small in comparison with the large caloric asymmetry present in the patients, indicating a relatively preserved capacity for near-threshold performance of the non-damaged labyrinth both in the "on" and "off" directions.
对人类前庭系统损伤的补偿研究主要集中在前庭眼反射上。探测前庭感知可以评估更多的感觉通路。我们提出了一种新的范式，用于同时测试围绕地球垂直轴的角加速度的前庭感知和眼震阈值。在正常受试者中，通过头部在滚动平面中弯曲的直流电（DC）电流刺激，可以预期前庭刺激的主要扭转作用平面，从而使感知阈值不对称地调节。急性前庭神经炎（单侧疾病）时，双侧的感知和眼震阈值升高，可能是由于前庭传入的中枢抑制所致。与患者中存在的大冷热水不对称性相比，阈值的不对称性程度较小，这表明在“开”和“关”方向上，未受损迷路的近阈值性能都相对保留。
