Marti
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Neurologie, Klinik für » Prof. Dr. Dominik Straumann » Marti
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Otolith function and perception of verticality in cerebellar disorders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | The present project aims to investigate the mechanisms by which the cerebellum, especially the flocculus and the midline cerebellar structures, contribute to the perception of spatial orientation and earth-verticality. From preliminary experiments and clinical observations in patients with midline cerebellar atrophy, we know that these patients can show marked deficits in perception of spatial orientation, while subconscious postural brainstem reflexes operate relatively unimpaired. We suggest that the cerebellum, relying on peripheral vestibular and otolith input signals, computes and adapts reference parameters required to correctly perceive of body position and uprightness. To elucidate this hypothesis, we plan a detailed and comparative study of otolith function and perception of spatial orientation in patients with cerebellar lesions and in normal subjects. - From the results can be expected: (i) Insight into the circuitries by which the vestibulocerebellum influences perception of body position and spatial orientation as well as subconscious postural reflexes. (ii) Identification of the relevant deficits in perception of body position and spatial orientation as well as of the impairment of postural reflexes that occur in patients with midline cerebellar disease. The analysis of our findings will improve the understanding of how the cerebellum is involved in human otolith functions and perception of spatial orientation and will enable us to determine the perceptive deficits that occur in cerebellar disease. The latter is a precondition for the establishment of appropiate diagnostic instruments and therapeutic options, which are lacking so far. | ||||||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Anastasopoulos D, Haslwanter T, Fetter M, Dichgans J (1998) Smooth pursuit eye movements and otolith-ocular responses are differently impaired in cerebellar ataxia. Brain 121 ( Pt 8):1497-1505 Marti S, Bockisch CJ, Straumann D (2005a) Prolonged asymmetric smooth-pursuit stimulation leads to downbeat nystagmus in healthy human subjects. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 46:143-149 Marti S, Palla A, Straumann D (2002) Gravity dependence of ocular drift in patients with cerebellar downbeat nystagmus. Ann Neurol 52:712-721 Marti S, Straumann D, Glasauer S (2005b) The origin of downbeat nystagmus: an asymmetry in the distribution of on-directions of vertical gaze-velocity Purkinje cells. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1039:548-553 Palla A, Bockisch CJ, Bergamin O, Straumann D (2006) Dissociated hysteresis of static ocular counterroll in humans. J Neurophysiol 95:2222-2232 Palla A, Bockisch CJ, Bergamin O, Straumann D (2005) Residual torsion following ocular counterroll. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1039:81-87 Straumann D, Zee DS, Solomon D (2000) Three-dimensional kinematics of ocular drift in humans with cerebellar atrophy. J Neurophysiol 83:1125-1140 Straumann D, Zee DS, Solomon D, Lasker AG, Roberts DC (1995) Transient torsion during and after saccades. Vision Res 35:3321-3334 |
||||||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | cerebellum, perception, vestibular, otolith, ocular motor | ||||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
|
||||||||
| Other links to external web pages | http://www.vertigocenter.ch | ||||||||
| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung) Bonizzi-Theler-Foundation |
||||||||
| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jul 2006 to Jul 2009 |