Dizziness is a common symptom in medical practice, and may be associated with over 300 diseases. Although most cases of dizziness are related to vestibular system dysfunction, some result from involvement of other parts of the body. Recent studies have shows that there is an association between auditory/vestibular symptoms and autonomous nervous system dysfunction, suggesting that this may be a...

Our sense of balance and spatial orientation strongly depends on the correct functionality of our vestibular system. Vestibular dysfunction can lead to blurred vision and impaired balance and spatial orientation, causing a significant decrease in quality of life. Recent studies have shown that vestibular implants offer a possible treatment for patients with vestibular dysfunction. The close pro...

A postural change from a recumbent to an upright position induces an increase in the hydrostatic pressure gradient, a footward fluid shift, reduced venous return and cardiac output, and reduced arterial pressure (AP). This reduction in AP is sensed by baroreceptors in the blood vessels, and AP is thought to be stabilized by the arterial baroreflex, an important negative feedback process. Altern...

Much is known about age-related anatomical changes in the vestibular system. Knowledge regarding how vestibular anatomical changes impact behavior for older adults continues to grow, in line with advancements in diagnostic testing. However, despite advancements in clinical diagnostics, much remains unknown about the functional impact that an aging vestibular system has on daily life activities ...

This review summarizes our current knowledge of multisensory vestibular structures and their functions in humans. Most of it derives from brain activation studies with PET and fMRI conducted over the last decade. The patterns of activations and deactivations during caloric and galvanic vestibular stimulations in healthy subjects have been compared with those in patients with acute and chronic p...

OBJECTIVE To provide a road map of the vestibular labyrinth and its innervation leading to a place principle for different forms of vertigo. METHOD The literature describing the anatomy and physiology of the vestibular system was reviewed. RESULTS Different forms of vertigo may be determined by the type of sense organ, type of ganglion cell and location in the vestibular nerve. CONCLUSION...

In the nineteenth century Pierre–Jean–Marie Flourens (1825) and Ernst Mach described the vestibular system and its peripheral organs while Robert Barany, rewarded by the Nobel prize in 1914, was the first to investigate vestibular disorders with caloric tests making surgical treatments of the vestibular organ possible. Recently, Graf and Klam (2006) have reminded us that this ancient sensory sy...