Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Estimating Vestibular Perceptual Thresholds Using a Six-Degree-Of-Freedom Motion Platform
Published on: August 4, 2022
Idiopathic scoliosis and the vestibular system
Ammar H Hawasli1, Timothy E Hullar, Ian G Dorward
1Department of Neurosurgery, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8057, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA, Hawaslia@wudosis.wustl.edu.
Purpose:
Despite its high prevalence, the etiology underlying idiopathic scoliosis remains unclear. Although initial scrutiny has focused on genetic, biochemical, biomechanical, nutritional and congenital causes, there is growing evidence that aberrations in the vestibular system may play a role in the etiology of scoliosis. In this article, we discuss putative mechanisms for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and review the current evidence supporting a role for the vestibular system in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
Methods:
A comprehensive search of the English literature was performed using PubMed ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ). Research articles studying interactions between adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and the vestibular system were selected and evaluated for inclusion in a literature review.
Results:
Eighteen manuscripts of level 3-4 clinical evidence to support an association between adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and dysfunction of the vestibular system were identified. These studies include data from physiologic and morphologic studies in humans. Clinical data are supported by animal model studies to suggest a causative link between the vestibular system and AIS.
Conclusions:
Clinical data and a limited number of animal model studies suggest a causative role of the vestibular system in AIS, although this association has not been reproduced in all studies.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Vestibular System
Equilibrium and Balance
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
Vertebral Column: Regions and Curvature
Regions of the Vertebral Column
In an adult, the spine is subdivided into five regions: the cervical, the thoracic, the lumbar, the sacral, and the coccygeal region. The spine initially develops as a series of 33 vertebrae; after 20 years of age, the nine bones in the sacral region, five sacral, and four coccygeal bones fuse to form...
Indirect Motor Pathways
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...
Articulations of the Vertebral Column

