Dynamic and static subjective visual vertical with aging.
OBJECTIVE
Our vestibular function is gradually deteriorating during aging, although, its behavioral consequences are not easily recognized due to a substitution process by other sensory modalities as visual or proprioceptive inputs.


METHODS
To reveal such a hidden substitution process by visual signals, the measurement of the static as well as the dynamic subjective visual vertical (SVV) was performed among 63 healthy subjects of different age.


RESULTS
The static SVV was found to be stable among all subjects, whereas the shift of the dynamic SVV during rotation of a background scene gradually increased with age.


CONCLUSIONS
This result indicates that the substitution process identified as a function of age in a perceptual test may have its counterpart in postural stabilizing reflex.
Kobayashi
Hironari
H
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi Shin-juku, 160-8582, Tokyo, Japan.
Hayashi
Yujiro
Y
Higashino
Kazutaka
K
Saito
Akira
A
Kunihiro
Takanobu
T
Kanzaki
Jin
J
Goto
Fumiyuki
F
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*