Vestibular Lecture Flashcards
Flowchart of Vestibular Function
Sensory input (vestibular, somatosensation, vision) –> Cerebellum and vestibular nuclei –> motor output (reflexes, postural, eye movement)
Peripheral Components
- Membranous Labyrinth, sits in…
- Bony Labyrinth, supported by…
- Perilymph
What is perilymph?
Similar to CSF with an increased Na:K ratio
Peripheral (Sensory) components
- 3 Semicircular Canals (SCC): Anterior, Posterior and Horizontal canals
- 2 Otolith Organs: Utricle and Saccule located within the Vestibule
- Other important landmarks: 8th Cranial Nerve, Endolymphatic Sac, Round & Oval Windows
Semi Circular Canals
- Oriented in 3 canal planes
- Each canal is paired with a canal on the opposite side
- Anterior canal with opposite Posterior canal
- Two Horizontal canals
Ampullofugal Stimulation
- displacement of cupola away from utricle
- excitation
Ampullopetal Stimulation
- Displacement of cupola towards utricle
- inhibition
what is the taller hair cell called?
Kinocillium
what is entering the hair cell that causes the channel to open?
glutamate and aspartate
Does excitatory stimuli or inhibitory stimuli cause a greater response?
- excitatory
- If you turn your head very quickly, your inhibiting ear may not be inhibiting enough –> fast motions become a problem
Nystagmus at rest: non-pathologic
L: 90 spikes/sec
R: 90 spikes/sec
Nystagmus at rest: pathologic
L: 40 spikes/sec
R: 90 spikes/sec
**will feel like you are turning to the right
What are the 2 Otoliths
Utricle and Saccule
Oriented in 2 different planes
What do the utricle and saccule detect?
linear acceleration and tilt
Is the vestibular nerve considered part of the periphery or central?
periphery
Where do afferent signals of the vestibular nerve project?
- From scarpa’s ganglion through the internal auditory canal with cochlear and facial nerve (sensory branch) and labyrinthine artery
Where does superior vestibular nerve go?
anterior and horizontal canals
utricle
where does the inferior vestibular nerve go?
posterior canal and saccule
Where does the vestibular nerve enter the brainstem?
at the ponto-medullary junction
“root entry zone”
what does PICA supply
inferior portion of the cerebellar hemispheres
dorsolateral medulla
what does the basilar artery supply?
pons
what does the AICA supply?
peripheral vestibular system via labyrinthine artery
an ICA stoke is likely to cause what?
vestibular issues
From where do nuclei receive input?
peripheral vestibular system, vision, and somatosensory afferents
How do the vestibular nuclei process and relay information?
- eye movement control for gaze stability during movement
- ANS control: BP, arousal
- Postural Control and Movement: brainstem
- Cortex for spatial orientation
What does the cerebellum do
modulates vestibular reflexes
what does the flocculus do?
adjusts/maintains gain of VOR
what does the nodulus do?
adjusts duration of VOR and processes otolith information
What is the anterior-superior vermis involved with?
vestibule-spinal reflex
VOR
stable vision during head motion
Vestibulo-spinal reflex
stable body during head motion
Vestibulo-Collic Reflex
Stable neck during head motion
What is required in order to prevent retinal slip in VOR?
- velocities of eye movements need to match the velocity of head movement
What is VOR gain equation and what should it be equal to?
Eye velocity/head velocity
1
What occurs to the VOR gain when excitation and inhibition isnt working properly?
gain is no longer 1
result = retinal slip
Non pathologic push-pull phenomenon for R head turn
L: 20
R: 160
Pathologic push-pull phenomenon for R head turn
L: 20
R: 90
What is nystagmus?
- distorted vestibular input from one side causing an imbalance in the firing rates which produces a rhythmic oscillatory movement of the eyes
- usually occurs in pathologic vestibular system
What is vertigo
abnormal sensation of illusion of motion
what is alexanders law
you really have to know this
vestibular nystagmus increases if the person looks with their eyes toward the past phase of the nystagmus and decreases if eyes are toward the slow phase
Say it again for the people in the back…
What strictures are part of the peripheral vestibular system?
- vestibular end organs (2 semicircular canals and utricle and saccule)
- vestibular portion of CNVIII
What structures are part of the central vestibular system
- vestibular nuclei
- vestibulocerebellum
- vestibuloocular pathway
- vestibulospinal pathways
- vestibular areas in the cortex
- vestibulo-autonomic pathways
Vestibulospinal Reflex
- Medial vestibulospinal tract: MLF to cervical cord –> head movements and integrating head and eye movements
- Lateral Vestibulospinal tract: To thoracic spinal cord –> head and body position in space for walking
Central Vestibular Function
- Discrimination between self movement vs. that of the environment
- spatial awareness and perceived vertical
- “personal space”
- Visuo-vestibular integration
- self-motion perception
- multisensory spatial coding (proprioceptive, auditory, visual, tactile)
Vestibular Connections to autonomic nervous system
– Locus coeruleus (stress and panic)
– Nucleus of the solitary tract (Vagus nerve: nausea)
– Area postrema (vomiting)
– Central nucleus of amygdala (emotional memory)
– Parabrachial nucleus (arousal)
– Infralimbic cortex (fear, emotional regulation)
– Hypothalamus (memory, BP, circadian rhythm)
Most common diagnoses in vestibular practice
– BPPV
– Vestibular Migraine
– Vestibular Neuritis
– PPPD/Anxiety-related Dizziness
– Meniere’s Disease
Peripheral Diagnoses
- Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
- Labyrinthitis/Neuritis
- Meniere’s Disease (endolymphatic hydrops)
- S/P Acoustic Schwannoma (Neuroma)
- Bilateral vestibular loss
Central Diagnoses
- Traumatic Brain Injury/concussion
- Vestibular Migraine
- Persistent Postural-Perceptual dizziness (PPPD)
- Cerebellar disorders
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Stroke- brainstem and cerebellar