Lopez Christophe, Blanke Olaf
Aix Marseille Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, NIA UMR 7260, 13331 Marseille, France.
Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain-Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
Curr Biol. 2014 Nov 3;24(21):R1026-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.09.067.
The hundredth anniversary of Robert Bárány's Nobel Prize in Medicine offers the opportunity to highlight the importance of his discoveries on the physiology and pathophysiology of the vestibular organs. Bárány developed the method of caloric vestibular stimulation that revolutionized the investigation of the semicircular canals and that is still widely used today. Caloric vestibular stimulation launched experimental vestibular research that was relevant to comprehend the evolution of human locomotion, and Bárány's tests continue to be used in neuroscience to understand the influence of vestibular signals on bodily perceptions, cognition and emotions. Only during the last 20 years has caloric vestibular stimulation been merged with brain imaging to localize the human vestibular cortex.
