title: The cerebellar nodulus: perceptual and ocular processing of graviceptive input.
abstract: Current concepts postulate a decisive role of the cerebellar nodulus in the processing of otolith input. We hypothesized that nodular lesions abolish otolith-perceptual integration, predicting alignment of perceived direction of earth vertical with the z-axis of the head and not with gravity. In an 80-year-old patient with acute heminodular infarction, the subjective visual vertical deviated contralesionally by -21.1° when the patient was upright. After subtracting this offset, perceived vertical closely matched the patient's head orientation when the patient was roll-tilted. Otolith-ocular reflexes remained normal. This is the first report on abolished earth verticality perception in heminodular stroke and underlines the importance of the nodulus in spatial orientation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexander A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tarnutzer
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wichmann
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Straumann
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bockisch
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology