Visual and proprioceptive interaction in patients with bilateral vestibular loss
File(s)
Author(s)
Cutfield, Nicholas J
Scott, Gregory
Waldman, Adam D
Sharp, David J
Bronstein, Adolfo M
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Following bilateral vestibular loss (BVL) patients gradually adapt to the loss of vestibular input and rely more on other sensory inputs. Here we examine changes in the way proprioceptive and visual inputs interact. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate visual responses in the context of varying levels of proprioceptive input in 12 BVL subjects and 15 normal controls. A novel metal-free vibrator was developed to allow vibrotactile neck proprioceptive input to be delivered in the MRI system. A high level (100 Hz) and low level (30 Hz) control stimulus was applied over the left splenius capitis; only the high frequency stimulus generates a significant proprioceptive stimulus. The neck stimulus was applied in combination with static and moving (optokinetic) visual stimuli, in a factorial fMRI experimental design. We found that high level neck proprioceptive input had more cortical effect on brain activity in the BVL patients. This included a reduction in visual motion responses during high levels of proprioceptive input and differential activation in the midline cerebellum. In early visual cortical areas, the effect of high proprioceptive input was present for both visual conditions but in lateral visual areas, including V5/MT, the effect was only seen in the context of visual motion stimulation. The finding of a cortical visuo-proprioceptive interaction in BVL patients is consistent with behavioural data indicating that, in BVL patients, neck afferents partly replace vestibular input during the CNS-mediated compensatory process. An fMRI cervico-visual interaction may thus substitute the known visuo-vestibular interaction reported in normal subject fMRI studies. The results provide evidence for a cortical mechanism of adaptation to vestibular failure, in the form of an enhanced proprioceptive influence on visual processing. The results may provide the basis for a cortical mechanism involved in proprioceptive substitution of vestibular function in BVL patients.
Date Issued
2014-01-01
Date Acceptance
2013-12-24
Citation
NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL, 2014, 4, pp.274-282
ISSN
2213-1582
Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Start Page
274
End Page
282
Journal / Book Title
NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL
Volume
4
Copyright Statement
© 2013 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works License, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works License, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
National Institute for Health Research
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000349667600029&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
MR/J004685/1
G0701951
NIHR-RP-011-048
G0600183
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Neuroimaging
Neurosciences & Neurology
Functional brain imaging
Vestibular
Proprioception
Visual cortex
NECK MUSCLE VIBRATION
VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRY
EYE-HEAD COORDINATION
SELF-MOTION
CERVICOOCULAR REFLEX
CENTRAL COMPENSATION
POSTURAL RESPONSES
SIGNAL INCREASES
FOLLOW-UP
LABYRINTHINE
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2014-01-04