Separating world-relative object motion from retinal motion requires an estimate of self-motion. We examined how experimentally degrading one vestibular observation channel alters this attribution in a recurrent state-space observer. We reduced effective otolith reliability by increasing generative otolith noise and held canal and visual noise fixed....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change — this is a basic-science vestibular perception study; findings are not yet translatable to clinical practice.
Understanding how the brain weighs unreliable otolith signals advances fundamental models of vestibular sensory integration, which underpins future rehabilitation and compensation strategies.
- 01Study probes reliability-weighted multisensory integration when otolith (gravity-sensing) signals are degraded.
- 02Examines the brain's ability to distinguish external object motion from self-motion.
- 03Findings inform Bayesian models of vestibular perception.
- 04Pure experimental/psychophysics design; no patients or clinical intervention.
- 05Relevant to understanding dizziness and spatial disorientation mechanisms.
Degraded otolith reliability alters how the brain attributes perceived motion to objects versus self-motion.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42822148
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.visres.2026.108913.
- Journal
- Vision Research
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Healthy human participants in a controlled psychophysics experiment
- Intervention
- Experimental manipulation of otolith reliability
- Comparator
- Normal/full otolith reliability condition
Primary outcomes
Reliability-weighted attribution of object motion versus self-motion under degraded otolith input