title: Reading while moving: the functional assessment of VOR.
abstract: The head impulse test (HIT) is nowadays recognized as the gold standard for clinical testing of the angular vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). By imposing unpredictable, abrupt head rotations in canal pairs' planes it aims at unveiling the dysfunction of the semicircular canal towards which the head is rotated based on Ewald's II law. Functional testing of the VOR aims at assessing the ability of the reflex to stabilize gaze in space and thus allow clear vision during head movements. The HIT device (HITD) approach exploits impulsive head rotations spawning a range of angular accelerations while requiring subjects to identify optotypes briefly displayed on a screen. Here we also recorded eye movements, so that the evaluation of the individual subject is based both on the VOR gain and on the percentage of correct answers with respect to a population of controls. Here we used the HITD to study 14 patients suffering from vestibular neuritis and 7 of those were re-tested after three months. We found that the HITD was able to unveil the ipsilesional deficit and the contralesional impairment, together with the improvement in the follow-up test.
authors.affiliation: C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Versino
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colagiorgio
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colnaghi
authors.affiliation: S.C, di Otorinolaringoiatria Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Quaglieri
authors.affiliation: S.C, di Otorinolaringoiatria Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manfrin
authors.affiliation: S.C, di Otorinolaringoiatria Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benazzo
authors.affiliation: C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Arrigo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D064087:Head Impulse Test / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D011932:Reading; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D012399:Rotation; D012665:Semicircular Canals / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D020338:Vestibular Neuronitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Functional vestibular testing; head impulse test; semicircular canal function; vestibular neuritis