Abstract
Vestibular processing is fundamental to our sense of orientation in space which is a core aspect of the representation of the self. Vestibular information is processed in a large subcortical–cortical neural network. Tasks requiring mental rotations of human bodies in space are known to activate neural regions within this network suggesting that vestibular processing is involved in the control of mental rotation. We studied whether mental rotation is impaired in patients suffering from two different forms of unilateral vestibular disorders (vestibular neuritis – VN – and Benign Paroxysmal positional Vertigo – BPPV) with respect to healthy matched controls (C). We used two mental rotation tasks in which participants were required to: (i) mentally rotate their own body in space (egocentric rotation) thus using vestibular processing to a large extent and (ii) mentally rotate human figures (allocentric rotation) thus using own body representations to a smaller degree. Reaction times and accuracy of responses showed that VN and BPPV patients were impaired in both tasks with respect to C. Significantly, the pattern of results was similar in the three groups suggesting that patients were actually performing the mental rotation without using a different strategy from the control individuals. These results show that dysfunctional vestibular inflow impairs mental rotation of both own body and human figures suggesting that unilateral acute disorders of the peripheral vestibular input massively affect the cerebral processes underlying mental rotations.
Highlights
Vestibular information is used to evaluate and maintain one’s own posture with respect to the vertical and to perceive the direction and velocity of one’s own head movement in space (Angelaki and Cullen, 2008)
We studied whether mental rotation is impaired in patients suffering from two different forms of unilateral vestibular disorders with respect to healthy matched controls (C)
These results show that dysfunctional vestibular inflow impairs mental rotation of both own body and human figures suggesting that unilateral acute disorders of the peripheral vestibular input massively affect the cerebral processes underlying mental rotations
Summary
Vestibular information is used to evaluate and maintain one’s own posture with respect to the vertical and to perceive the direction and velocity of one’s own head movement in space (Angelaki and Cullen, 2008) These functions are fundamental to our sense of self-location in space which is known to be further supported by the ability to integrate vestibular inputs with proprioceptive, motor, and visual information (Angelaki and Cullen, 2008; Cullen, 2012). Alterations in vestibular inflow associated with peripheral vestibular failure disrupt the integrated representation of our body and movements in space and in recent years it has been shown that neural activity within this cerebellar, subcortical, and temporo-parieto-frontal network is systematically changed early after the onset of vestibular deficits (Bense et al, 2004; Dieterich and Brandt, 2008, 2010; Alessandrini et al, 2013a). Defective vestibular functions induce: (i) clear clinical symptoms such as a sudden onset of severe rotational vertigo associated with spontaneous nystagmus, nausea, vomiting, emotional disturbances, postural instability without any other neurologic or cochlear symptoms (Pollak et al, 2003; Strupp and Brandt, 2009); (ii) deficits in perceptual abilities concerning verticality and space representation (Bohmer and Mast, 1999a,b; Clement et al, 2009), motor behaviors (e.g., navigation, Peruch et al, 2005; Guidetti et al, 2008), cognitive functions (memory, attention, Smith et al, 2005; Hanes and McCollum, 2006); (iii) psychological disturbances (McKenna et al, 1991; Eagger et al, 1992; Gomez-Alvarez and Jáuregui-Renaud, 2011) and psychiatric symptoms such as depersonalization and derealization (Sang et al, 2006; JaureguiRenaud et al, 2008; Gomez-Alvarez and Jáuregui-Renaud, 2011)
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