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Audiology Research
Special Issues
The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods
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The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods

A special issue of Audiology Research (ISSN 2039-4349).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 7489

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giacinto Asprella Libonati

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
UOSD “Vestibologia E Otorinolaringoiatria” Presidio Ospedaliero “Giovanni Paolo II”, Policoro, Italy
Interests: tumors; neurotology; ear; otology; human balance; hearing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Herman Kingma

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. ENT Department, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
2. ENT Department, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
Interests: vestibular implants and articial intelligence; rehabilitation; neuroscience; otolaryngology; neurophysiology; brain stimulation; medical technology; posturography; saccades
Prof. Dr. Vito Enrico Pettorossi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Perugia, Via Gambuli 1, Perugia, Italy
Interests: vestibular; ear; otology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The vestibular system is a complex  system that controls space perception and motion detecting head position and motion by the labyrinthine organs. The latter work as mechanical transducers of physical stimula into electrical signals that are sent  to the brainstem. The brainstem processes and distributes the signals to other areas of the central nervous system (CNS), where complex superior functions are based to process signals, organize them and memorize the perception of space. Vestibular reflexes stabilize both our posture and our gait and have significant effects on our tests of vestibular function.

In this special issue, the physiology of the vestibular system and the most common tests used to assess the funcion of the vestibular system will be examined and discussed.

Dr. Giacinto Asprella Libonati
Prof. Dr. Herman Kingma
Prof. Dr. Vito Enrico Pettorossi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Audiology Research is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vestibular system
  • vestibular reflexes
  • space memory
  • labyrintth physiology
  • ampullary cupula
  • utricular macula
  • saccular macula

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1884 KiB  
Article
Visual Fixation of Skull-Vibration-Induced Nystagmus in Patients with Peripheral Vestibulopathy
by Melissa Blanco, Chiara Monopoli-Roca, Marta Álvarez de Linera-Alperi, Pablo Menéndez Fernández-Miranda, Bárbara Molina, Angel Batuecas-Caletrío and Nicolás Pérez-Fernández
Audiol. Res. 2024, 14(4), 562-571; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres14040047 - 24 Jun 2024
Viewed by 514
Abstract
Nystagmus induced by applying an intense vibratory stimulus to the skull (SVIN) indicates vestibular functional asymmetry. In unilateral vestibular loss, a 100 Hz bone-conducted vibration given to either mastoid immediately causes a primarily horizontal nystagmus. The test is performed in darkness to avoid [...] Read more.
Nystagmus induced by applying an intense vibratory stimulus to the skull (SVIN) indicates vestibular functional asymmetry. In unilateral vestibular loss, a 100 Hz bone-conducted vibration given to either mastoid immediately causes a primarily horizontal nystagmus. The test is performed in darkness to avoid visual fixation (VF) but there are no data about how much VF affects the often-intense SVIN. The aim is to analyze the amount of reduction in SVIN when VF is allowed during testing. Thus, all patients seen in a tertiary hospital for vertigo or dizziness with positive SVIN were included. SVIN was recorded for 10 s for each condition: without VF (aSVINwo) and with VF (aSVINw). We obtained an aSVINwo and an aSVINw as average slow-phase velocities (SPV) without and with VF. VF index (FISVIN) was calculated as the ratio of SPV. Among the 124 patients included, spontaneous nystagmus (SN) was found in 25% and the median slow phase velocity (mSPV) (without VF) of SN was 2.6 ± 2.4°/s. Mean FISVIN was 0.27 ± 0.29. FISVIN was 0 in 42 patients, and FISVIN between 0 and 1 was found in 82 (mean FISVIN 0.39 ± 0.02). Fixation suppression was found in all patients with SVIN in cases of peripheral vestibulopathy. FISVIN clearly delineates two populations of patients: with or without a complete visual reduction in nystagmus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods)
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11 pages, 3263 KiB  
Article
Induction and Cancellation of Self-Motion Misperception by Asymmetric Rotation in the Light
by Vito Enrico Pettorossi, Chiara Occhigrossi, Roberto Panichi, Fabio Massimo Botti, Aldo Ferraresi, Giampietro Ricci and Mario Faralli
Audiol. Res. 2023, 13(2), 196-206; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres13020019 - 2 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1362
Abstract
Asymmetrical sinusoidal whole-body rotation sequences with half-cycles at different velocities induce self-motion misperception. This is due to an adaptive process of the vestibular system that progressively reduces the perception of slow motion and increases that of fast motion. It was found that perceptual [...] Read more.
Asymmetrical sinusoidal whole-body rotation sequences with half-cycles at different velocities induce self-motion misperception. This is due to an adaptive process of the vestibular system that progressively reduces the perception of slow motion and increases that of fast motion. It was found that perceptual responses were conditioned by four previous cycles of asymmetric rotation in the dark, as the perception of self-motion during slow and fast rotations remained altered for several minutes. Surprisingly, this conditioned misperception remained even when asymmetric stimulation was performed in the light, a state in which vision completely cancels out the perceptual error. This suggests that vision is unable to cancel the misadaptation in the vestibular system but corrects it downstream in the central perceptual processing. Interestingly, the internal vestibular perceptual misperception can be cancelled by a sequence of asymmetric rotations with fast/slow half-cycles in a direction opposite to that of the conditioning asymmetric rotations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods)
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11 pages, 2169 KiB  
Article
Vestibular Migraine versus Méniere’s Disease: Diagnostic Utility of Electrocochleography
by Paul Tabet, Ahlem Elblidi and Issam Saliba
Audiol. Res. 2023, 13(1), 12-22; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres13010002 - 26 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2602
Abstract
Objectives: The diagnostic criteria for vestibular migraine (VM) and Méniere’s disease (MD) present an important overlap, which leads to a difficult diagnosis in patients presenting with headache, vertigo, hearing loss, ear fullness, and tinnitus. The objective of our study is to determine whether [...] Read more.
Objectives: The diagnostic criteria for vestibular migraine (VM) and Méniere’s disease (MD) present an important overlap, which leads to a difficult diagnosis in patients presenting with headache, vertigo, hearing loss, ear fullness, and tinnitus. The objective of our study is to determine whether the area-under-the-curve ratio of the summating potentials (SP) and action potentials (AP) curves on electrocochleography (ECoG) helps differentiate VM from MD with or without the use of the well-established clinical criteria. Method: A retrospective review of patients filling either VM or MD criteria was undertaken between September 2015 and December 2018. All patients underwent ECoG before the introduction of anti-migraine therapy. The prediction of symptom improvement between the clinical criteria and ECoG results was compared by using the Vertigo Symptom Scale. Results: In total, 119 patients were included. An overlap of 36% exists between patients filling VM and MD criteria. Clinical criteria alone did not demonstrate a significant prediction of symptom response to anti-migraine therapy (VM 83%, MD 51%; p = 0.10). However, ECoG results alone did demonstrate adequate prediction (VM 94%, MD 32%; p < 0.001). A negative ECoG result combined with the clinical criteria of VM (100% symptom improvement) was shown to be more predictive of treatment response when compared to clinical criteria alone (83% symptom improvement) (p = 0.017). Finally, when used in patients filling both the VM and MD criteria (VMMD), ECoG was able to predict symptom improvement, thus better differentiating both diseases (normal ECoG: 95%, abnormal ECoG 29%; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Combining VM criteria with normal ECoG using the AUC ratio seems superior in predicting adequate symptom improvement than VM criteria alone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods)
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Review

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9 pages, 3413 KiB  
Review
Focused Update on Clinical Testing of Otolith Organs
by Stefan C. A. Hegemann, Anand Kumar Bery and Amir Kheradmand
Audiol. Res. 2024, 14(4), 602-610; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres14040051 - 2 Jul 2024
Viewed by 239
Abstract
Sensing gravity through the otolith receptors is crucial for bipedal stability and gait. The overall contribution of the otolith organs to eye movements, postural control, and perceptual functions is the basis for clinical testing of otolith function. With such a wide range of [...] Read more.
Sensing gravity through the otolith receptors is crucial for bipedal stability and gait. The overall contribution of the otolith organs to eye movements, postural control, and perceptual functions is the basis for clinical testing of otolith function. With such a wide range of contributions, it is important to recognize that the functional outcomes of these tests may vary depending on the specific method employed to stimulate the hair cells. In this article, we review common methods used for clinical evaluation of otolith function and discuss how different aspects of physiology may affect the functional measurements in these tests. We compare the properties and performance of various clinical tests with an emphasis on the newly developed video ocular counter roll (vOCR), measurement of ocular torsion on fundus photography, and subjective visual vertical or horizontal (SVV/SVH) testing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods)
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19 pages, 4434 KiB  
Review
Vestibular Testing—New Physiological Results for the Optimization of Clinical VEMP Stimuli
by Christopher J. Pastras and Ian S. Curthoys
Audiol. Res. 2023, 13(6), 910-928; https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres13060079 - 9 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1257
Abstract
Both auditory and vestibular primary afferent neurons can be activated by sound and vibration. This review relates the differences between them to the different receptor/synaptic mechanisms of the two systems, as shown by indicators of peripheral function—cochlear and vestibular compound action potentials (cCAPs [...] Read more.
Both auditory and vestibular primary afferent neurons can be activated by sound and vibration. This review relates the differences between them to the different receptor/synaptic mechanisms of the two systems, as shown by indicators of peripheral function—cochlear and vestibular compound action potentials (cCAPs and vCAPs)—to click stimulation as recorded in animal studies. Sound- and vibration-sensitive type 1 receptors at the striola of the utricular macula are enveloped by the unique calyx afferent ending, which has three modes of synaptic transmission. Glutamate is the transmitter for both cochlear and vestibular primary afferents; however, blocking glutamate transmission has very little effect on vCAPs but greatly reduces cCAPs. We suggest that the ultrafast non-quantal synaptic mechanism called resistive coupling is the cause of the short latency vestibular afferent responses and related results—failure of transmitter blockade, masking, and temporal precision. This “ultrafast” non-quantal transmission is effectively electrical coupling that is dependent on the membrane potentials of the calyx and the type 1 receptor. The major clinical implication is that decreasing stimulus rise time increases vCAP response, corresponding to the increased VEMP response in human subjects. Short rise times are optimal in human clinical VEMP testing, whereas long rise times are mandatory for audiometric threshold testing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Vestibular System: Physiology and Testing Methods)
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