UMR INSERM U 1075 COMETE, Université de Normandie, Rue Rochambelle, 14032 CAEN, France.
Centre de Recherche sur les Fonctionnements et Dysfonctionnements Psychologigues, CRFDP EA7475, Rouen Normandie University, Bat Blondel, Place E. Blondel 76821, Mont Saint Aignan cedex, France.
Behav Brain Res. 2019 Oct 17;372:112040. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112040. Epub 2019 Jun 17.
Earth's gravity acts both as a mechanical stimulus on the body and as a sensory stimulus to the vestibular organ, which is transmitted into the brain. The vestibular system has been recently highlighted as the cornerstone of the multisensory cortex and of the dorsal hippocampus related to spatial cognition. Consequently, we have hypothesized that the vestibular sensory perception of gravity by the otoliths might also play a crucial role during the first stages of development in both sensorimotor and cognitive functions and the construction and perception of the 'self' and related functions of orientation and navigation. We have investigated an original mouse model (Head Tilted mice, B6Ei.GL-Nox3het/J) suffering from a selective congenital absence of vestibular otolithic gravisensors. We report that mouse pups suffered from a delay in the acquisition of sensorimotor reflexes, spatial olfactory guidance, path integration, and ultrasonic communication, while maternal care remained normal. We demonstrate that development has a critical period dependent on the vestibular otolithic sensory perception of gravity, probably temporally between the somesthetic and visual critical periods. The symptoms expressed by the congenital otolithic-deficient mice are similar to validated mouse models of autism and highlight the significance of vestibular graviception in the pathophysiology of development.
地球的引力不仅对身体起到机械刺激作用，还对前庭器官起到感官刺激作用，前庭器官将刺激传入大脑。最近的研究强调，前庭系统是多感官皮层和与空间认知相关的背侧海马体的基石。因此，我们假设耳石对重力的前庭感觉可能在感觉运动和认知功能以及“自我”的构建和感知以及定向和导航相关功能的最初发育阶段也起着至关重要的作用。我们研究了一种原始的小鼠模型（倾斜头小鼠，B6Ei.GL-Nox3het/J），其患有选择性先天性前庭耳石重传感器缺失。我们报告说，幼鼠在获得感觉运动反射、空间嗅觉引导、路径整合和超声通讯方面存在延迟，而母性行为仍保持正常。我们证明，发育具有一个关键时期，这个时期依赖于对重力的前庭耳石感觉，可能在体感和视觉关键时期之间。先天性耳石缺失小鼠表现出的症状与自闭症的经过验证的小鼠模型相似，强调了前庭重觉在发育病理生理学中的重要性。
