Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Using Eye-tracking to Assess the Relative Importance of Visual and Vestibular Input to Subcortical Motion Processing in the Roll Plane
Published on: August 22, 2025
Low-frequency tuning in the human vestibular-ocular projection is determined by both peripheral and central
Neil P M Todd1, Sally M Rosengren, Sendhil Govender
1Faculty of Life Science, Jacksons Mill, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD, UK. neil.todd@manchester.ac.uk
Abstract:
We recently reported that a major contribution to the low-frequency tuning and sensitivity of the human vestibular system is the biomechanical properties of the vestibular end-organs. In the current paper, we investigate the contribution of additional mechanisms to low-frequency tuning. We compared the response properties of the vestibular system in 6 human volunteers to trains of 2 ms pulses of sound and transmastoid vibration using pulse repetition frequencies of 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 Hz. Measurements were made using two separate pathways arising from the vestibular apparatus: to the neck using vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs), and to the eyes using ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (OVEMPs). For both sound and vibration the two response pathways produced different tuning to pulse trains. The vestibulo-ocular pathway was characterised by a band-pass tuning with best frequency of 100 Hz whereas the vestibulo-collic pathway showed a peak at 400 Hz with sound only. These results suggest that properties of the vestibulo-ocular pathway also contribute to the low-frequency tuning that occurs for the OVEMP, in addition to previously reported end-organ effects.
Related Concept Videos
The Vestibular System
Equilibrium and Balance
The Cochlea
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Indirect Motor Pathways
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...

