Cognitive function assessment in patients with uncompensated vestibular neuritis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Otolaryngology

Background:

• The vestibular system is vital for spatial orientation.
• Emerging evidence links the vestibular system to higher-order cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific cognitive domains impacted by unilateral vestibular neuritis (VN).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study compared 30 patients with uncompensated unilateral VN to 30 healthy controls.
• Cognitive tests assessed reaction time, visuospatial memory, processing speed, response inhibition, verbal fluency, working memory, and attention.
• Independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests analyzed group differences, with Cohen's d for effect size.

Main Results:

• Patients with VN showed significantly poorer visuospatial memory (Corsi Block-Tapping Test, p=0.004, d=1.02).
• VN patients exhibited slower reaction times in choice reaction and incongruent Stroop tasks (p=0.01, d=0.8).
• No significant differences were found in other cognitive areas.

Conclusions:

• Unilateral VN is linked to deficits in visuospatial memory and processing speed.
• These results highlight the vestibular system's role in cognition.
• Cognitive evaluation and rehabilitation should be integrated into vestibular disorder management.