Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a common peripheral vestibular disorder. Although the thalamus serves as a key node in vestibular pathways, its role in the central regulation of BPPV remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the functional and structural alterations of thalamus in patients with BPPV.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change to clinical practice is indicated; these neuroimaging findings are preliminary and do not yet translate to diagnostic or treatment protocols for BPPV.
Identifying brain-level connectivity changes in BPPV adds to growing evidence that this common vestibular disorder has central nervous system components, which may eventually inform rehabilitation strategies.
- 01Neuroimaging study examined thalamic subregion connectivity in BPPV patients.
- 02Functional connectivity and white matter microstructure (brain wiring integrity) were both altered.
- 03BPPV is the most common cause of vertigo, making central brain changes clinically meaningful to understand.
- 04Findings are exploratory and based on imaging, not clinical outcomes.
- 05Results may lay groundwork for future biomarker or treatment research in BPPV.
BPPV patients show functional connectivity alterations in thalamic subregions compared to controls.
studypartially supportedWhite matter microstructural changes are present in the thalamus of BPPV patients.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42918585
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2026.112178.
- Journal
- Brain Research Bulletin
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 3
- Population
- Patients diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
- Intervention
- Neuroimaging assessment of thalamic functional connectivity and white matter microstructure
- Comparator
- Healthy controls (implied by study design)
Primary outcomes
Functional connectivity of thalamic subregions; White matter microstructural integrity in thalamic regions