Quantifying virtual self-motion sensations induced by galvanic vestibular stimulation

The vestibular system provides a comprehensive estimate of self-motion in 3D space. Widely used to artificially stimulate the vestibular system, binaural-bipolar square-wave Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) elicits a virtual sensation of roll rotation. Postural responses to GVS have been clearly delineated, however quantifying the perceived virtual rotation vector has not been fully realised.

We aimed to quantify the perceived virtual roll rotation vector elicited by GVS using a psychophysical approach on a 3D turntable.

Participants were placed supine on the 3D turntable and rotated around the naso-occipital axis while supine and received square-wave binaural-bipolar GVS or sham stimulation. GVS amplitudes and intensities were systematically manipulated. The turntable motion profile consisted of a velocity step of 20°/s2 until the trial velocity between 0-20°/s was reached, followed by a 1°/s ramp until the end of the trial. In a psychophysical adaptive staircase procedure, we systematically varied the roll velocity to identify the exact velocity that cancelled the perceived roll sensation induced by GVS.

Participants perceived a virtual roll rotation towards the cathode of approximately 2°/s velocity for 1 mA GVS and 6°/s velocity for 2.5 mA GVS. The observed values were stable across repetitions.

Our results quantify for the first time the perceived virtual roll rotations induced by binaural-bipolar square-wave GVS. Importantly, estimates were based on perceptual judgements, in the absence of motor or postural responses and in a head orientation where the GVS-induced roll sensation did not interact with the perceived direction of gravity. This is an important step towards applications of GVS in different settings, including sensory substitution or Virtual Reality.