The cortical electrophysiological changes evoked by natural vestibular stimulation in healthy and bilateral vestibulopathy

Peripheral vestibular stimulation elicits brainstem reflex responses manifesting as a vestibular-ocular reflex nystagmus ('VOR') and evokes a perception of self-motion or 'vertigo'. While VOR responses are objectively measured via eye movements, no such objective measure exists for assessing the cortical vestibular processing of self-motion....

No actionable change for current clinical practice; this is a mechanistic study of cortical responses to vestibular stimulation and does not yet provide clinically validated diagnostic or treatment protocols.

Understanding how the brain compensates for — or fails to compensate for — bilateral vestibular loss at the cortical level could eventually inform rehabilitation targets and objective diagnostics for vestibulopathy.

1. 01Compared cortical electrophysiological responses to natural vestibular stimulation in healthy vs. bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) participants.
2. 02Measured vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and vertigo perception alongside EEG/cortical signals.
3. 03Published in Journal of Neurophysiology (DOI: 10.1152/jn.00115.2026).
4. 04Provides mechanistic insight into central vestibular processing differences in BVP.
5. 05Findings are preliminary and not yet validated for direct clinical application.

PMID

42324248

DOI

10.1152/jn.00115.2026.

Journal

Journal of Neurophysiology

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Healthy adults and adults with bilateral vestibulopathy

Intervention

Natural vestibular stimulation with concurrent cortical electrophysiological recording

Comparator

Healthy individuals (compared with bilateral vestibulopathy group)