title: Vestibular ablation and a semicircular canal prosthesis affect postural stability during head turns.
abstract: In our study, we examined postural stability during head turns for two rhesus monkeys: one animal study contrasted normal and mild bilateral vestibular ablation and a second animal study contrasted severe bilateral vestibular ablation with and without prosthetic stimulation. The monkeys freely stood, unrestrained on a balance platform and made voluntary head turns between visual targets. To quantify each animals' posture, motions of the head and trunk, as well as torque about the body's center of mass, were measured. In the mildly ablated animal, we observed less foretrunk sway in comparison with the normal state. When the canal prosthesis provided electric stimulation to the severely ablated animal, it showed a decrease in trunk sway during head turns. Because the rhesus monkey with severe bilateral vestibular loss exhibited a decrease in trunk sway when receiving vestibular prosthetic stimulation, we propose that the prosthetic electrical stimulation partially restored head velocity information. Our results provide an indication that a semicircular canal prosthesis may be an effective way to improve postural stability in patients with severe peripheral vestibular dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA. lthomps@alum.mit.edu.|Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard University-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA. lthomps@alum.mit.edu.|School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, USA. lthomps@alum.mit.edu.
authors.forename: Lara A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Csilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haburcakova
authors.affiliation: Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard University-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Richard F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D000617:Aminoglycosides / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D058117:Neural Prostheses; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D019415:Torque; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000617:Aminoglycosides
keywords: Balance; Implant; Posture; Prosthesis; Vestibular