1
|
Corre J, Cugnot JF, Boutabla A, Cavuscens S, Ranieri M, van de Berg R, Peterka RJ, Guinand N, Fornos AP. Postural impairments in unilateral and bilateral vestibulopathy. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1324868. [PMID: 38450076 PMCID: PMC10915085 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1324868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic imbalance is a major complaint of patients suffering from bilateral vestibulopathy (BV) and is often reported by patients with chronic unilateral vestibulopathy (UV), leading to increased risk of falling. We used the Central SensoriMotor Integration (CSMI) test, which evaluates sensory integration, time delay, and motor activation contributions to standing balance control, to determine whether CSMI measures could distinguish between healthy control (HC), UV, and BV subjects and to characterize vestibular, proprioceptive, and visual contributions expressed as sensory weights. We also hypothesized that sensory weight values would be associated with the results of vestibular assessments (vestibulo ocular reflex tests and Dizziness Handicap Inventory scores). Twenty HCs, 15 UVs and 17 BVs performed three CSMI conditions evoking sway in response to pseudorandom (1) surface tilts with eyes open or, (2) surface tilts with eyes closed, and (3) visual surround tilts. Proprioceptive weights were identified in surface tilt conditions and visual weights were identified in the visual tilt condition. BVs relied significantly more on proprioception. There was no overlap in proprioceptive weights between BV and HC subjects and minimal overlap between UV and BV subjects in the eyes-closed surface-tilt condition. Additionally, visual sensory weights were greater in BVs and were similarly able to distinguish BV from HC and UV subjects. We found no significant correlations between sensory weights and the results of vestibular assessments. Sensory weights from CSMI testing could provide a useful measure for diagnosing and for objectively evaluating the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts and future treatments designed to restore vestibular function such as hair cell regeneration and vestibular implants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julie Corre
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jean-François Cugnot
- Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Anissa Boutabla
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Samuel Cavuscens
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Maurizio Ranieri
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Raymond van de Berg
- Division of Vestibular Disorders, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Robert J. Peterka
- National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Administration Portland Health Care System and Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Nils Guinand
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Angélica Pérez Fornos
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Chari DA, Ahmad M, King S, Boutabla A, Fattahi C, Panic AS, Karmali F, Lewis RF. Vestibular damage affects the precision and accuracy of navigation in a virtual visual environment. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad345. [PMID: 38116141 PMCID: PMC10729862 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Vestibular information is available to the brain during navigation, as are the other self-generated (idiothetic) and external (allothetic) sensorimotor cues that contribute to central estimates of position and motion. Rodent studies provide strong evidence that vestibular information contributes to navigation but human studies have been less conclusive. Furthermore, sex-based differences have been described in human navigation studies performed with the head stationary, a situation where dynamic vestibular (and other idiothetic) information is absent, but sex differences in the utilization of vestibular information have not been described. Here, we studied men and women with severe bilateral vestibular damage as they navigated through a visually barren virtual reality environment and compared their performance to normal men and women. Two navigation protocols were employed, which either activated dynamic idiothetic cues ('dynamic task', navigate by turning, walking in place) or eliminated them ('static task', navigate with key presses, head stationary). For both protocols, we employed a standard 'triangle completion task' in which subjects moved to two visual targets in series and then were required to return to their perceived starting position without localizing visual information. The angular and linear 'accuracy' (derived from response error) and 'precision' (derived from response variability) were calculated. Comparing performance 'within tasks', navigation on the dynamic paradigm was worse in male vestibular-deficient patients than in normal men but vestibular-deficient and normal women were equivalent; on the static paradigm, vestibular-deficient men (but not women) performed better than normal subjects. Comparing performance 'between tasks', normal men performed better on the dynamic than the static paradigm while vestibular-deficient men and both normal and vestibular-deficient women were equivalent on both tasks. Statistical analysis demonstrated that for the angular precision metric, sex had a significant effect on the interaction between vestibular status and the test paradigm. These results provide evidence that humans use vestibular information when they navigate in a virtual visual environment and that men and women may utilize vestibular (and visual) information differently. On our navigation paradigm, men used vestibular information to improve navigation performance, and in the presence of severe vestibular damage, they utilized visual information more effectively. In contrast, we did not find evidence that women used vestibular information while navigating on our virtual task, nor did we find evidence that they improved their utilization of visual information in the presence of severe vestibular damage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Divya A Chari
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Maimuna Ahmad
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Susan King
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
| | - Anissa Boutabla
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland
| | - Cameron Fattahi
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Alexander S Panic
- Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Richard F Lewis
- Department of Otolaryngolgy-Head and Neck Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston MA 02114, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Stultiens JJA, Lewis RF, Phillips JO, Boutabla A, Della Santina CC, Glueckert R, van de Berg R. The Next Challenges of Vestibular Implantation in Humans. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2023; 24:401-412. [PMID: 37516679 PMCID: PMC10504197 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-023-00906-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Patients with bilateral vestibulopathy suffer from a variety of complaints, leading to a high individual and social burden. Available treatments aim to alleviate the impact of this loss and improve compensatory strategies. Early experiments with electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve in combination with knowledge gained by cochlear implant research, have inspired the development of a vestibular neuroprosthesis that can provide the missing vestibular input. The feasibility of this concept was first demonstrated in animals and later in humans. Currently, several research groups around the world are investigating prototype vestibular implants, in the form of vestibular implants as well as combined cochlear and vestibular implants. The aim of this review is to convey the presentations and discussions from the identically named symposium that was held during the 2021 MidWinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, with researchers involved in the development of vestibular implants targeting the ampullary nerves. Substantial advancements in the development have been made. Yet, research and development processes face several challenges to improve this neuroprosthesis. These include, but are not limited to, optimization of the electrical stimulation profile, refining the surgical implantation procedure, preserving residual labyrinthine functions including hearing, as well as gaining regulatory approval and establishing a clinical care infrastructure similar to what exists for cochlear implants. It is believed by the authors that overcoming these challenges will accelerate the development and increase the impact of a clinically applicable vestibular implant.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joost Johannes Antonius Stultiens
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University Medical Center, P. Debyelaan 25, Maastricht, 6202 AZ, The Netherlands.
| | - Richard F Lewis
- Department of Otolaryngology and Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James O Phillips
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Anissa Boutabla
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Charles C Della Santina
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rudolf Glueckert
- Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Raymond van de Berg
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University Medical Center, P. Debyelaan 25, Maastricht, 6202 AZ, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To characterize visuospatial and nonvisuospatial cognitive domains affected by vestibular loss and determine whether patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) correlate with performance on neuropsychological tests. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING University-based tertiary medical center. PATIENTS Sixty-nine age-matched subjects: 25 patients with bilateral vestibular loss (BVL), 14 patients with unilateral vestibular loss (UVL), and 30 normal controls (NC). INTERVENTIONS Neuropsychological tests used to assess visuospatial and auditory short-term and working memory, number magnitude representation, executive function, and attention. Validated PROMs used to evaluate quality of life and subjective cognitive impairment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Performance on neuropsychological tests and scores on PROM surveys. RESULTS BVL and UVL patients performed significantly worse than NC subjects on tasks requiring visuospatial representation compared with NC subjects ( p < 0.01). BVL patients demonstrated decreased performance on spatial representation tasks compared with UVL and NC subjects ( p < 0.05 and p < 0.05, respectively). All subject groups performed similarly on tasks assessing nonvisuospatial cognitive domains, such as auditory short-term and working memory, executive function, and attention. PROMs did not seem to correlate with performance on neuropsychological tasks. CONCLUSION Patients with vestibular loss exhibit impairments in tasks requiring visuospatial representation but perform similarly to NC subjects in tasks of auditory working memory, executive function, or attention. Currently available questionnaires may be insufficient to screen patients for cognitive deficits.
Collapse
|
5
|
Lanthaler D, Griessner A, Steixner V, Hubner PP, Ranieri M, Cavuscens S, Boutabla A, Zierhofer CM, Perez Fornos A. Speech Perception With Novel Stimulation Strategies for CombinedCochleo-Vestibular Systems. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 2021; 29:1644-1650. [PMID: 34398757 DOI: 10.1109/tnsre.2021.3105271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Cochlear implants are very well established in the rehabilitation of hearing loss and are regarded as the most successful neuroprostheses to date. While a lot of progress has also been made in the neighboring field of specific vestibular implants, some diseases affect the entire inner ear, leading to both hearing and vestibular hypo- or dysfunction. The proximity of the cochlear and vestibular organs suggests a single combined implant as a means to alleviate the associated impairments. While both organs can be stimulated in a similar way with electric pulses applied through implanted electrodes, the typical phase durations needed in the vestibular system seem to be substantially larger than those typically needed in the cochlear system. Therefore, when using sequential stimulation in a combined implant, the pulse stream to the cochlea is interrupted by comparatively large gaps in which vestibular stimulation can occur. We investigate the impact of these gaps in the auditory stream on speech perception. Specifically, we compare a number of stimulation strategies with different gap lengths and distributions and evaluate whether it is feasible to use them without having a noticeable decline in perception and quality of speech. This is a prerequisite for any practicable stimulation strategy of a combined system and can be investigated even in recipients of a normal cochlear implant. Our results show that there is no significant deterioration in speech perception for the different strategies examined in this paper, leaving the strategies as viable candidates for prospective combined cochleo-vestibular implants.
Collapse
|
6
|
Crétallaz C, Boutabla A, Cavuscens S, Ranieri M, Nguyen TAK, Kingma H, Van De Berg R, Guinand N, Pérez Fornos A. Influence of systematic variations of the stimulation profile on responses evoked with a vestibular implant prototype in humans. J Neural Eng 2020; 17:036027. [PMID: 32213673 PMCID: PMC8630998 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ab8342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To explore the impact of different electrical stimulation profiles in human recipients of the Geneva-Maastricht vestibular implant prototypes. APPROACH Four implanted patients were recruited for this study. We investigated the relative efficacy of systematic variations of the electrical stimulus profile (phase duration, pulse rate, baseline level, modulation depth) in evoking vestibulo-ocular (eVOR) and perceptual responses. MAIN RESULTS Shorter phase durations and, to a lesser extent, slower pulse rates allowed maximizing the electrical dynamic range available for eliciting a wider range of intensities of vestibular percepts. When either the phase duration or the pulse rate was held constant, current modulation depth was the factor that had the most significant impact on peak velocity of the eVOR. SIGNIFICANCE Our results identified important parametric variations that influence the measured responses. Furthermore, we observed that not all vestibular pathways seem equally sensitive to the electrical stimulus when the electrodes are placed in the semicircular canals and monopolar stimulation is used. This opens the door to evaluating new stimulation strategies for a vestibular implant, and suggests the possibility of selectively activating one vestibular pathway or the other in order to optimize rehabilitation outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Céline Crétallaz
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Machuca-Parra AI, Bigger-Allen AA, Sanchez AV, Boutabla A, Cardona-Vélez J, Amarnani D, Saint-Geniez M, Siebel CW, Kim LA, D'Amore PA, Arboleda-Velasquez JF. Therapeutic antibody targeting of Notch3 signaling prevents mural cell loss in CADASIL. J Exp Med 2017; 214:2271-2282. [PMID: 28698285 PMCID: PMC5551569 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20161715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2016] [Revised: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Machuca-Parra et al. show that restoring Notch3 signaling via genetic rescue in a Notch3 knockout or using a Notch3 agonist antibody in a mouse model of CADASIL can prevent small vessel disease. Cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a neurological syndrome characterized by small vessel disease (SVD), stroke, and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia caused by mutations in NOTCH3. No therapies are available for this condition. Loss of mural cells, which encompass pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells, is a hallmark of CADASIL and other SVDs, including diabetic retinopathy, resulting in vascular instability. Here, we showed that Notch3 signaling is both necessary and sufficient to support mural cell coverage in arteries using genetic rescue in Notch3 knockout mice. Furthermore, we show that systemic administration of an agonist Notch3 antibody prevents mural cell loss and modifies plasma proteins associated with Notch3 activity, including endostatin/collagen 18α1 and Notch3 extracellular domain in mice with the C455R mutation, a CADASIL variant associated with Notch3 loss of function. These findings open opportunities for the treatment of CADASIL and other SVDs by modulating Notch3 signaling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arturo I Machuca-Parra
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Alexander A Bigger-Allen
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Angie V Sanchez
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Anissa Boutabla
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.,Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble, France
| | - Jonathan Cardona-Vélez
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.,Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Dhanesh Amarnani
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Magali Saint-Geniez
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Christian W Siebel
- Department of Discovery Oncology, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
| | - Leo A Kim
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Patricia A D'Amore
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA .,Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Joseph F Arboleda-Velasquez
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| |
Collapse
|