Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-11-2016
Abstract
While there have been numerous studies of the vestibular system in mammals, less is known about the brain mechanisms of vestibular processing in humans. In particular, of the studies that have been carried out in humans over the last 30 years, none has investigated how vestibular stimulation (VS) affects cortical oscillations. Here we recorded high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy human subjects and a group of bilateral vestibular loss patients (BVPs) undergoing transient and constant-velocity passive whole body yaw rotations, focusing our analyses on the modulation of cortical oscillations in response to natural VS. The present approach overcame significant technical challenges associated with combining natural VS with human electrophysiology and reveals that both transient and constant-velocity VS are associated with a prominent suppression of alpha power (8–13 Hz). Alpha band suppression was localized over bilateral temporo-parietal scalp regions, and these alpha modulations were significantly smaller in BVPs. We propose that suppression of oscillations in the alpha band over temporo-parietal scalp regions reflects cortical vestibular processing, potentially comparable with alpha and mu oscillations in the visual and sensorimotor systems, respectively, opening the door to the investigation of human cortical processing under various experimental conditions during natural VS.
Recommended Citation
Gale S, Prsa M, Schurger A, Gay A, Paillard A, Heberlin B, Guyot JP, Lopez C, Blanke O. Oscillatory neural responses evoked by natural vestibular stimuli in humans. J Neurphysiol 115:1228-1242, 2016. DOI:10.1152/jn.00153.2015
Copyright
American Physiological Society
Included in
Nervous System Commons, Neurology Commons, Neurosciences Commons, Other Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Neurophysiology, volume 115, issue 3, in year following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at DOI: 10.1152/jn.00153.2015.