Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

Using Unidirectional Rotations to Improve Vestibular System Asymmetry in Patients with Vestibular Dysfunction
Published on: August 30, 2019
Vestibulo-ocular reflex in patients with superior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
Nicolas Perez-Fernandez1, Marta Martinez-Lopez, Raquel Manrique-Huarte
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra , Pamplona , Spain.
Conclusion:
The function of all the semicircular canals in patients with idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in whom otoconial debris is located in the superior semicircular canal (SSC) is normal.
Objective:
BPPV of SSC is an infrequent entity in which otoconial debris evokes vertigo and nystagmus in the head-hanging position and during anterior flexion of the patient.
Methods:
We studied the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in 12 patients with this particular type of BPPV. The reflex was evoked by rapid head impulses in the plane of the three semicircular canals in the affected and the normal ear. The reflex was evaluated with a video system that analyzes the head and eye velocity: the gain (the relation between both magnitudes) was the objective measure.
Results:
The mean gain of VOR was within normal limits for the six semicircular canals and there were no significant differences between the same canals on each side of patients with BPPV in whom canalolithiasis was located in the SSC. However, gain asymmetry was different for each pair of canals.
More Related Videos
07:24Using 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
10:12Three Dimensional Vestibular Ocular Reflex Testing Using a Six Degrees of Freedom Motion Platform
Published on: May 23, 2013
Related Concept Videos
Equilibrium and Balance
The Vestibular System
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
Indirect Motor Pathways
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...