Maurer C, Kimmig H, Trefzer A, Mergner T
Neurologische Universitätsklinik, Freiburg, Germany.
J Vestib Res. 1997 Mar-Jun;7(2-3):119-35.
Object localization in space signals in the absence of an external reference (visual, auditory, haptic) involves a signal of the head in space (vestibular). The present study asks whether signals of body position relative to the support surface (proprioceptive) are involved as well, by investigating the role of vestibular-neck interaction (dissociating head and trunk position). Normal human subjects saw a light spot (object) and continuously nulled displacement steps of the spot. They did so before and after vestibular and/or neck rotational stimulation in the horizontal plane, reproducing a predesignated object localization in space (i), relative to the head mid-sagittal (ii), and relative to the trunk mid-sagittal (iii). The predominant frequency contained in the stimuli was varied (0.05, 0.1, and 0.4 Hz). (I) Object localization in space upon whole-body rotation (vestibular stimulus) at high frequency was veridical, whereas that at low frequency fell short. Almost identical results were obtained for trunk rotation about the stationary head (neck stimulus). In contrast, when combining the stimuli in the form of head rotation on the stationary trunk, the results were veridical, independent of stimulus frequency. Additional findings obtained with a large variety of vestibular-neck stimulus combinations suggest a linear summation of vestibular and neck signals. (II) Object localization with respect to the head was approximately veridical, being independent of vestibular and neck stimulation. However, this only applied if subjects were not biased by a head-in-space motion illusion of neck origin. (III) Object localization with respect to the trunk was veridical in all conditions tested. The findings support a recently developed concept, according to which humans evaluate the kinematic state of a visual object in space by (a) relating it to that of the body support by means of an essentially ideal proprioceptive coordinate transformation, and (b) relating, in turn, the kinematic state of the support to a vestibularly derived notion of space, using a proprioceptive coordinate transformation that "knows" the vestibular transfer characteristics. One important aspect is that object localization in space always is veridical during head and trunk rotation relative to a stationary support (for example, the ground) despite non-ideal vestibular transfer characteristics. Additional findings in patients with chronic loss of vestibular function confirm this concept.
在没有外部参考(视觉、听觉、触觉)的情况下,空间中的物体定位涉及头部在空间中的信号(前庭信号)。本研究通过调查前庭 - 颈部相互作用(分离头部和躯干位置)的作用,来探讨相对于支撑面的身体位置信号(本体感觉信号)是否也参与其中。正常人类受试者看到一个亮点(物体),并不断抵消该亮点的位移步骤。他们在水平面上进行前庭和/或颈部旋转刺激之前和之后都这样做,分别相对于头部矢状面(i)、相对于躯干矢状面(ii)以及相对于空间(iii)再现预先指定的物体定位。刺激中包含的主要频率有所变化(0.05、0.1和0.4赫兹)。(I)全身高频旋转(前庭刺激)时空间中的物体定位是准确的,而低频时则不准确。围绕固定头部的躯干旋转(颈部刺激)也得到了几乎相同的结果。相反,当以固定躯干上的头部旋转形式组合刺激时,结果是准确的,与刺激频率无关。通过各种前庭 - 颈部刺激组合获得的其他发现表明前庭和颈部信号呈线性叠加。(II)相对于头部的物体定位大致准确,与前庭和颈部刺激无关。然而,这仅适用于受试者没有受到源于颈部的空间中头部运动错觉影响的情况。(III)在所有测试条件下,相对于躯干的物体定位都是准确的。这些发现支持了最近提出的一个概念,即人类通过以下方式评估空间中视觉物体的运动状态:(a)通过基本理想的本体感觉坐标变换将其与身体支撑的运动状态相关联,以及(b)反过来,使用“了解”前庭传递特性的本体感觉坐标变换,将支撑的运动状态与从前庭派生的空间概念相关联。一个重要方面是,尽管前庭传递特性不理想,但相对于固定支撑(例如地面)进行头部和躯干旋转时,空间中的物体定位始终是准确的。慢性前庭功能丧失患者的其他发现证实了这一概念。