title: Gravity perception in cerebellar patients.
abstract: Patients with midline cerebellar atrophy typically suffer from impaired postural balance. We asked whether this deficit is, in part, caused by a deficient perception of body position relative to gravity, and therefore measured the subjective visual vertical (SVV) in patients with degeneration predominantly of the midline cerebellar structures (n=11) and age-matched healthy human subjects (n=9). On a motorized turntable, subjects were placed in different roll positions [0, 75 degrees right ear down (RED), 75 degrees left ear down (LED)] and had to align a luminous arrow with the perceived earth-vertical. Both SVV deviations and intra-individual SD of SVV adjustments were not significantly different between patients and age-matched controls. Our findings suggest that the perception of verticality in patients with cerebellar ataxia may only deteriorate in a more advanced stage of the disease. To which degree the deterioration of perceived vertical is caused by a collateral vestibular impairment, awaits further clarification.
authors: Department of Neurology, Zurich University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. alexander.tarnutzer@access.unizh.ch
authors: A A
authors: AA
authors: Tarnutzer
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Marti
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Straumann
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D018466:Gravity Sensing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology