title: The vestibular system: multimodal integration and encoding of self-motion for motor control.
abstract: Understanding how sensory pathways transmit information under natural conditions remains a major goal in neuroscience. The vestibular system plays a vital role in everyday life, contributing to a wide range of functions from reflexes to the highest levels of voluntary behavior. Recent experiments establishing that vestibular (self-motion) processing is inherently multimodal also provide insight into a set of interrelated questions. What neural code is used to represent sensory information in vestibular pathways? How do the interactions between the organism and the environment shape encoding? How is self-motion information processing adjusted to meet the needs of specific tasks? This review highlights progress that has recently been made towards understanding how the brain encodes and processes self-motion to ensure accurate motor control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada. Kathleen.cullen@mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Kathleen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Cullen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D009038:Motion; D009039:Motion Perception; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D014726:Vestibular Nuclei; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology