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01-09-2009 | Original Article

Cervical proprioception is sufficient for head orientation after bilateral vestibular loss

Authors: Eva-Maj Malmström, Mikael Karlberg, Per-Anders Fransson, Johannes Lindbladh, Måns Magnusson

Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology | Issue 1/2009

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the relative importance of cervical proprioception compared to vestibular input for head movements on trunk. Subjects with bilateral vestibulopathy (n = 11) were compared to healthy controls (n = 15). We studied their ability to move the head accurately to reproduce four specified target positions in the horizontal yaw plane (neutral head position, 10° target, 30° target, and 30° target with oscillating movements applied during target introduction). Repositioning ability was calculated as accuracy (constant error, the mean of signed differences between introduced and reproduced target) and precision (variable error, the standard deviation of differences between introduced and reproduced targets). Subjects with bilateral vestibulopathy did not differ significantly from controls in their ability to reproduce different target positions. When the 30° target position was introduced with oscillating movements, overshoot diminished and accuracy improved in both groups, although only statistically significantly when performed towards the right side. The results suggest that at least in some conditions, accurate head on trunk orientation can be achieved without vestibular information and that cervical somato-sensory input is either up-regulated as a compensatory mechanism after bilateral vestibular loss or is important for such tasks.

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Title: Cervical proprioception is sufficient for head orientation after bilateral vestibular loss
Authors: Eva-Maj Malmström
Mikael Karlberg
Per-Anders Fransson
Johannes Lindbladh
Måns Magnusson
Publication date: 01-09-2009
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology / Issue 1/2009
Print ISSN: 1439-6319
Electronic ISSN: 1439-6327
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1097-3

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Cervical proprioception is sufficient for head orientation after bilateral vestibular loss

Abstract

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