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Clark TK, Galvan-Garza RC, Merfeld DM. Intra-individual consistency of vestibular perceptual thresholds. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024:10.3758/s13414-024-02886-7. [PMID: 38658516 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-024-02886-7] [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] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Vestibular perceptual thresholds quantify sensory noise associated with reliable perception of small self-motions. Previous studies have identified substantial variation between even healthy individuals' thresholds. However, it remains unclear if or how an individual's vestibular threshold varies over repeated measures across various time scales (repeated measurements on the same day, across days, weeks, or months). Here, we assessed yaw rotation and roll tilt thresholds in four individuals and compared this intra-individual variability to inter-individual variability of thresholds measured across a large age-matched cohort each measured only once. For analysis, we performed simulations of threshold measurements where there was no underlying variability (or it was manipulated) to compare to that observed empirically. We found remarkable consistency in vestibular thresholds within individuals, for both yaw rotation and roll tilt; this contrasts with substantial inter-individual differences. Thus, we conclude that vestibular perceptual thresholds are an innate characteristic, which validates pooling measures across sessions and potentially serves as a stable clinical diagnostic and/or biomarker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Bioastronautics Laboratory, Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado-Boulder, 3375 Discovery Dr. AERO N301, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
| | - Raquel C Galvan-Garza
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Takeda T, Tajino J, Merfeld DM. Frequency dependence of human thresholds - both perceptual and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) thresholds. J Neurophysiol 2024. [PMID: 38658179 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00224.2023] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
While perceptual thresholds have been widely studied, VOR thresholds have received less attention, so the relationship between vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and perceptual thresholds remains unclear. We compared the frequency dependence of human VOR thresholds to human perceptual thresholds for yaw head rotation in both upright ("yaw rotation") and supine ("yaw tilt") positions using the same human subjects and motion device. VOR thresholds were generally a little smaller than perceptual thresholds. We also found that horizontal VOR thresholds for both yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis and yaw tilt (yaw rotation about an earth-horizontal axis) were relatively constant across 4 frequencies (0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2 Hz) with little difference between yaw rotation and yaw tilt VOR thresholds. For yaw tilt stimuli, perceptual thresholds were slightly lower at the lowest frequency and nearly constant at all other (higher) frequencies. However, for yaw rotation, perceptual thresholds increased significantly at the lowest frequency (0.2Hz). We conclude: (i) that VOR thresholds were relatively constant across frequency for both yaw rotation and yaw tilt, (ii) that the known contributions of velocity storage to the VOR likely yielded these VOR thresholds that were similar for yaw rotation and yaw tilt for all frequencies tested, and (iii) that the integration of otolith and horizontal canal signals during yaw tilt when supine contributes to stable perceptual thresholds, especially relative to the low frequency perceptual thresholds recorded during yaw rotation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takamori Takeda
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Junichi Tajino
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. Vestibular contributions to linear motion perception. Exp Brain Res 2024; 242:385-402. [PMID: 38135820 PMCID: PMC11058474 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06754-y] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Vestibular contributions to linear motion (i.e., translation) perception mediated by the otoliths have yet to be fully characterized. To quantify the maximal extent that non-vestibular cues can contribute to translation perception, we assessed vestibular perceptual thresholds in two patients with complete bilateral vestibular ablation to compare to our data in 12 young (< 40 years), healthy controls. Vestibular thresholds were assessed for naso-occipital ("x-translation"), inter-aural ("y-translation"), and superior-inferior ("z-translation") translations in three body orientations (upright, supine, side-lying). Overall, in our patients with bilateral complete vestibular loss, thresholds were elevated ~ 2-45 times relative to healthy controls. No systematic differences in vestibular perceptual thresholds were noted between motions that differed only with respect to their orientation relative to the head (i.e., otoliths) in patients with bilateral vestibular loss. In addition, bilateral loss patients tended to show a larger impairment in the perception of earth-vertical translations (i.e., motion parallel to gravity) relative to earth-horizontal translations, which suggests increased contribution of the vestibular system for earth-vertical motions. However, differences were also noted between the two patients. Finally, with the exception of side-lying x-translations, no consistent effects of body orientation in our bilateral loss patients were seen independent from those resulting from changes in the plane of translation relative to gravity. Overall, our data confirm predominant vestibular contributions to whole-body direction-recognition translation tasks and provide fundamental insights into vestibular contributions to translation motion perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J Kobel
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, OH, 43204, USA.
| | - Andrew R Wagner
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, OH, 43204, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, OH, 43204, USA
- Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
- Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Oas JG, Merfeld DM. Characterization of Vestibular Perception in Patients with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness. Otol Neurotol 2024; 45:75-82. [PMID: 38013457 DOI: 10.1097/mao.0000000000004053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess vestibular (i.e., passive self-motion) perception in patients diagnosed with persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). STUDY DESIGN Case-controlled, cross-sectional, observational investigation. SETTING Single-center laboratory-based study. PATIENTS Thirteen patients with PPPD, 13 age-matched healthy control volunteers. Of those with PPPD, eight had co-occurring vestibular migraine (VM). INTERVENTIONS All participants completed a vestibular threshold test battery reflecting perception with predominant inputs from ( a ) the otoliths (1-Hz interaural y -axis translation, 1-Hz superior-inferior z -axis translation), ( b ) the semicircular canals (2-Hz yaw rotation, 2-Hz tilts in the planes of the vertical canal pairs), and ( c ) and canal-otolith integration (0.5-Hz roll tilt). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Direction-recognition thresholds for each vestibular threshold test condition. RESULTS Across all patients with PPPD, higher thresholds for superior-inferior z -translations thresholds in comparison to age-matched healthy control participants were identified ( p < 0.001). Those patients with co-occurring VM and PPPD (PPPD/+VM) displayed significantly higher z -translation thresholds ( p = 0.006), whereas patients with PPPD without VM (PPPD/-VM) displayed significantly higher roll tilt thresholds ( p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS Patients with PPPD did not display a global worsening of passive self-motion perception as quantified by vestibular perceptual thresholds. Instead, patients with PPPD displayed elevated thresholds for only roll tilt and z -translation thresholds, with the relative change in each threshold impacted by the co-occurrence of VM. Because both z -translation and roll tilt motions are reliant on accurate gravity perception, our data suggest that patients with PPPD may exhibit impaired processing of graviceptive cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus
| | - Andrew R Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus
| | - John G Oas
- Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, Dayton, Ohio
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus
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Teaford M, Mularczyk ZJ, Gernon A, Cannon S, Kobel M, Merfeld DM. Joint Contributions of Auditory, Proprioceptive and Visual Cues on Human Balance. Multisens Res 2023; 36:865-890. [PMID: 37907070 DOI: 10.1163/22134808-bja10113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
One's ability to maintain their center of mass within their base of support (i.e., balance) is believed to be the result of multisensory integration. Much of the research in this literature has focused on integration of visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive cues. However, several recent studies have found evidence that auditory cues can impact balance control metrics. In the present study, we sought to better characterize the impact of auditory cues on narrow stance balance task performance with different combinations of visual stimuli (virtual and real world) and support surfaces (firm and compliant). In line with past results, we found that reducing the reliability of proprioceptive cues and visual cues yielded consistent increases in center-of-pressure (CoP) sway metrics, indicating more imbalance. Masking ambient auditory cues with broadband noise led to less consistent findings; however, when effects were observed they were substantially smaller for auditory cues than for proprioceptive and visual cues - and in the opposite direction (i.e., masking ambient auditory cues with broadband noise reduced sway in some situations). Additionally, trials that used virtual and real-world visual stimuli did not differ unless participants were standing on a surface that disrupted proprioceptive cues; disruption of proprioception led to increased CoP sway metrics in the virtual visual condition. This is the first manuscript to report the effect size of different perturbations in this context, and the first to study the impact of acoustically complex environments on balance in comparison to visual and proprioceptive contributions. Future research is needed to better characterize the impact of different acoustic environments on balance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Teaford
- Department of Psychology, 14733The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
- Department of Acceleration and Sensory Sciences, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, Wright Patterson Airforce Base, OH 45433, USA
| | - Zachary J Mularczyk
- Department of Acceleration and Sensory Sciences, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, Wright Patterson Airforce Base, OH 45433, USA
| | - Alannah Gernon
- Department of Acceleration and Sensory Sciences, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, Wright Patterson Airforce Base, OH 45433, USA
| | - Shauntelle Cannon
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
| | - Megan Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
- Department of Acceleration and Sensory Sciences, Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton, Wright Patterson Airforce Base, OH 45433, USA
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Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. Influence of Visual Feedback on Roll Tilt Perceptual Training. Otol Neurotol 2023; 44:949-955. [PMID: 37590890 PMCID: PMC10502940 DOI: 10.1097/mao.0000000000003990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS We hypothesized that the addition of visual feedback during roll tilt perceptual training would yield a significant reduction in vestibular perceptual thresholds relative to a control group. BACKGROUND We previously showed that roll tilt vestibular thresholds could be improved through a perceptual training protocol that used a simple auditory cue. Variability in training outcomes within the treatment group suggested that an auditory cue alone may be suboptimal for improving self-motion perception. METHODS In 10 healthy adults, roll tilt vestibular thresholds, quantifying the smallest motion that can be reliably perceived, were measured before ("pretraining") and after ("posttraining") a training protocol designed to improve roll tilt perception. The protocol included 1,300 trials of 0.5 Hz whole-body roll tilt over 5 days, with participants being given both an auditory cue ("correct' vs. "incorrect') and visual feedback (viewing a stationary visual scene) after indicating their perceived direction of tilt. A control group (N = 10) underwent only the "pretraining" and "posttraining" assessments. RESULTS The training group showed an average decrease in roll tilt vestibular thresholds of 1.7% ± 56%, with training outcomes varying widely. Three individuals showed an average increase in roll tilt thresholds of 69.7%, whereas the remaining seven adults showed an average decrease in thresholds of 32.3%. CONCLUSION These data show that visual feedback during roll tilt perceptual training leads to heterogenous outcomes, but in a subset of individuals, it may lead to improvements in perceptual precision. Additional work is needed to define the optimal training parameters, including feedback schema, before investigating potential clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus OH
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus OH
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
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Wagner AR, Kobel MJ, Merfeld DM. Increased roll tilt thresholds are associated with subclinical postural instability in asymptomatic adults aged 21 to 84 years. Front Aging Neurosci 2023; 15:1207711. [PMID: 37637958 PMCID: PMC10448770 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1207711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Balance assessments that intentionally alter the reliability of visual and proprioceptive feedback (e.g., standing on foam with eyes closed) have become a standard approach for identifying vestibular mediated balance dysfunction in older adults. However, such assessments cannot discern which specific element of the vestibular system (e.g., semicircular canal, otolith, or combined canal-otolith) underlies the observed age-related changes in balance performance. The present study was designed to determine the associations between specific sources of vestibular noise and quantitative measures of quiet stance postural control measured during standard "vestibular" balance conditions. Methods A group of 52 asymptomatic adults (53.21 ± 19.7, 21 to 84 years) without a history of vestibular or neurologic disorders volunteered for this study. We measured a battery of five vestibular perceptual thresholds that assay vestibular noise with predominant contributions from the vertical canals, lateral canals, utricles, saccules, and the centrally integrated canal-otolith signal. In addition, participants completed two standard balance assessments that were each designed to prioritize the use of vestibular cues for quiet stance postural control-eyes closed on foam (Condition 4 of the Modified Romberg Balance Test) and eyes closed, on a sway referenced support surface (Condition 5 of the Sensory Organization Test). Results In age adjusted models, we found strong positive associations between roll tilt vestibular thresholds, a measure of noise in the centrally integrated canal-otolith signal, and the root mean square distance (RMSD) of the anteroposterior and mediolateral center of pressure (CoP) captured during eyes closed stance on a sway referenced support surface. The strength of the association between roll tilt thresholds and the RMSD of the CoP was between 3-times and 30-times larger than the association between postural sway and each of the other vestibular thresholds measured. Conclusion We posit that noise in the centrally estimated canal-otolith "tilt" signal may be the primary driver of the subclinical postural instability experienced by older adults during the "vestibular" conditions of balance assessments. Additional testing in adults with clinical balance impairment are needed to identify if roll tilt thresholds may also serve as a surrogate metric by which to detect vestibular mediated balance dysfunction and/or fall risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Megan J. Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. Recurrence quantification analysis of postural sway in patients with persistent postural perceptual dizziness. Front Rehabil Sci 2023; 4:1142018. [PMID: 37576917 PMCID: PMC10415033 DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1142018] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Background Persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a common cause of chronic dizziness and imbalance. Emerging evidence suggests that changes in quantitative measures of postural control may help identify individuals with PPPD, however, traditional linear metrics of sway have yielded inconsistent results. Methodologies to examine the temporal structure of sway, including recurrent quantification analysis (RQA), have identified unique changes in dynamic structure of postural control in other patient populations. This study aimed to determine if adults with PPPD exhibit changes in the dynamic structure of sway and whether this change is modulated on the basis of available sensory cues. Methods Twelve adults diagnosed with PPPD and twelve age-matched controls, completed a standard battery of quiet stance balance tasks that involved the manipulation of visual and/or proprioceptive feedback. For each group, the regularity and complexity of the CoP signal was assessed using RQA and the magnitude and variability of the CoP signal was quantified using traditional linear measures. Results An overall effect of participant group (i.e., healthy controls vs. PPPD) was seen for non-linear measures of temporal complexity quantified using RQA. Changes in determinism (i.e., regularity) were also modulated on the basis of availability of sensory cues in patients with PPPD. No between-group difference was identified for linear measures assessing amount and variability of sway. Conclusions Participants with PPPD on average exhibited sway that was similar in magnitude to, but significantly more repeatable and less complex than, healthy controls. These data show that non-linear measures provide unique information regarding the effect of PPPD on postural control, and as a result, may serve as potential rehabilitation outcome measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J. Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Andrew R. Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. Evaluating vestibular contributions to rotation and tilt perception. Exp Brain Res 2023:10.1007/s00221-023-06650-5. [PMID: 37310477 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06650-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Vestibular perceptual thresholds provide insights into sensory function and have shown clinical and functional relevance. However, specific sensory contributions to tilt and rotation thresholds have been incompletely characterized. To address this limitation, tilt thresholds (i.e., rotations about earth-horizontal axes) were quantified to assess canal-otolith integration, and rotation thresholds (i.e., rotations about earth-vertical axes) were quantified to assess perception mediated predominantly by the canals. To determine the maximal extent to which non-vestibular sensory cues (e.g., tactile) can contribute to tilt and rotation thresholds, we tested two patients with completely absent vestibular function and compared their data to those obtained from two separate cohorts of young (≤ 40 years), healthy adults. As one primary finding, thresholds for all motions were elevated by approximately 2-35 times in the absence of vestibular function, thus, confirming predominant vestibular contributions to both rotation and tilt self-motion perception. For patients without vestibular function, rotation thresholds showed larger increases relative to healthy adults than tilt thresholds. This suggests that increased extra-vestibular (e.g., tactile or interoceptive) sensory cues may contribute more to the perception of tilt than rotation. In addition, an impact of stimulus frequency was noted, suggesting increased vestibular contributions relative to other sensory systems can be targeted on the basis of stimulus frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J Kobel
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Andrew R Wagner
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA
- Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. A modified two-dimensional sensory organization test that assesses both anteroposterior and mediolateral postural control. Front Rehabil Sci 2023; 4:1166859. [PMID: 37284337 PMCID: PMC10239846 DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1166859] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Background The Sensory Organization Test (SOT) was designed to measure changes in postural control in response to unreliable visual and/or proprioceptive feedback. However, secondary to the manipulation of sensory cues in only the sagittal plane, the SOT is capable of only describing postural control in a single direction. The present study aimed to characterize postural responses to a modified SOT designed to concurrently challenge both anteroposterior and mediolateral postural control. Methods Twenty-one healthy adult volunteers (30.6 ± 10.2 years) completed the standard anteroposterior one-dimensional (1D) SOT, in addition to a modified SOT with the support surface sway-referenced to both anteroposterior and mediolateral postural sway (two-dimensional, 2D). Our primary analysis concerned a comparison of mediolateral, as well as anteroposterior postural sway measured during the standard one-dimensional (i.e., pitch tilt) and the novel two-dimensional (i.e., roll and pitch tilt) sway-referenced paradigms. Here, postural sway was quantified by calculating the root mean square distance (RMSD) of the center of pressure (CoP) during each trial. Results Our data showed that the 2D sway-referenced conditions yielded a selective increase in mediolateral postural sway relative to the standard 1D conditions for both wide (η2 = 0.66) and narrow (η2 = 0.78) stance conditions, with anteroposterior postural sway being largely unaffected (η2 = 0.001 to 0.103, respectively). The ratio between mediolateral postural sway in the sway-referenced conditions and postural sway in the corresponding stable support surface conditions was greater for the 2D (2.99 to 6.26 times greater) compared to 1D paradigms (1.25 to 1.84 times greater), consistent with a superior degradation of viable proprioceptive feedback in the 2D paradigm. Conclusion A modified 2D version of the SOT was shown to provide a greater challenge to mediolateral postural control relative to the standard 1D SOT protocol, putatively as a result of a superior capacity to degrade proprioceptive feedback in the mediolateral direction. Given these positive findings, future studies should investigate the clinical utility of this modified SOT as a means by which to better characterize sensory contributions to postural control in the presence of various sensorimotor pathologies, including vestibular hypofunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department Speech and Hearing Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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Lim K, Teaford M, Merfeld DM. Comparing the impact of the method of adjustment and forced-choice methodologies on subjective visual vertical bias and variability. J Vestib Res 2022; 32:501-510. [PMID: 36120751 DOI: 10.3233/ves-220046] [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] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research suggested that the method of adjustment and forced choice variants of the subjective visual vertical (SVV) produce comparable estimates of both bias and variability. However, variants of the SVV that utilize a method of adjustment procedure are known to be heavily influenced by task parameters, including the stimulus rotation speed, which was not accounted for in previous SVV research comparing the method of adjustment to forced-choice. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to determine if (1) the SVV with a forced-choice procedure produces both bias and variability estimates that are comparable to those obtained using a method of adjustment procedure, (2) to see if rotation speed impacts the comparability of estimates and (3) quantify correlations between the estimates produced by different procedures. METHODS Participants completed a variant of the SVV which utilized a forced-choice procedure as well as two variants of the SVV using a method of adjustment procedure with two different rotation speeds (6°/s and 12°/s). RESULTS We found that the bias estimates were similar across all three conditions tested and that the variability estimates were greater in the SVV variants that utilized a method of adjustment procedure. This difference was more pronounced when the rotation speed was slower (6°/s). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that forced-choice and method of adjustment methodologies yield similar bias estimates and different variability estimates. Given these results, we recommend utilizing forced-choice procedures unless (a) forced-choice is not feasible or (b) response variability is unimportant. We also recommend that clinicians consider the SVV methods when interpreting a patient's test results, especially for variability metrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koeun Lim
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Arizona, USA
| | - Max Teaford
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University, Ohio, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University, Ohio, USA
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12
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Teaford M, Keller K, Merfeld DM. The contribution of interoceptive signals to spatial orientation: A mini-review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 143:104943. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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13
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Wagner AR, Kobel MJ, Tajino J, Merfeld DM. Improving self-motion perception and balance through roll tilt perceptual training. J Neurophysiol 2022; 128:619-633. [PMID: 35894439 PMCID: PMC9448335 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00092.2022] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study aimed to determine if a vestibular perceptual learning intervention could improve roll tilt self-motion perception and balance performance. Two intervention groups (n = 10 each) performed 1,300 trials of roll tilt at either 0.5 Hz (2 s/motion) or 0.2 Hz (5 s/motion) distributed over 5 days; each intervention group was provided feedback (correct/incorrect) after each trial. Roll tilt perceptual thresholds, measured using 0.2-, 0.5-, and 1-Hz stimuli, as well as quiet stance postural sway, were measured on day 1 and day 6 of the study. The control group (n = 10) who performed no perceptual training, showed stable 0.2-Hz (+1.48%, P > 0.99), 0.5-Hz (-4.0%, P > 0.99), and 1-Hz (-17.48%, P = 0.20) roll tilt thresholds. The 0.2-Hz training group demonstrated significant improvements in both 0.2-Hz (-23.77%, P = 0.003) and 0.5-Hz (-22.2%, P = 0.03) thresholds. The 0.5-Hz training group showed a significant improvement in 0.2-Hz thresholds (-19.13%, P = 0.029), but not 0.5-Hz thresholds (-17.68%, P = 0.052). Neither training group improved significantly at the untrained 1-Hz frequency (P > 0.05). In addition to improvements in perceptual precision, the 0.5-Hz training group showed a decrease in sway when measured during "eyes open, on foam" (dz = 0.57, P = 0.032) and "eyes closed, on foam" (dz = 2.05, P < 0.001) quiet stance balance tasks. These initial data suggest that roll tilt perception can be improved with less than 5 h of training and that vestibular perceptual training may contribute to a reduction in subclinical postural instability.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Roll tilt vestibular perceptual thresholds, an assay of vestibular noise, were recently found to correlate with postural sway. We therefore hypothesized that roll tilt perceptual training would yield improvements in both perceptual precision and balance. Our data show that roll tilt perceptual thresholds and quiet stance postural sway can be significantly improved after less than 5 h of roll tilt perceptual training, supporting the hypothesis that vestibular noise contributes to increased postural sway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Megan J Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Junichi Tajino
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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14
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Wagner AR, Kobel MJ, Merfeld DM. Impacts of Rotation Axis and Frequency on Vestibular Perceptual Thresholds. Multisens Res 2022; 35:259-287. [DOI: 10.1163/22134808-bja10069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
In an effort to characterize the factors influencing the perception of self-motion rotational cues, vestibular self-motion perceptual thresholds were measured in 14 subjects for rotations in the roll and pitch planes, as well as in the planes aligned with the anatomic orientation of the vertical semicircular canals (i.e., left anterior, right posterior; LARP, and right anterior, left posterior; RALP). To determine the multisensory influence of concurrent otolith cues, within each plane of motion, thresholds were measured at four discrete frequencies for rotations about earth-horizontal (i.e., tilts; EH) and earth-vertical axes (i.e., head positioned in the plane of the rotation; EV). We found that the perception of rotations, stimulating primarily the vertical canals, was consistent with the behavior of a high-pass filter for all planes of motion, with velocity thresholds increasing at lower frequencies of rotation. In contrast, tilt (i.e, EH rotation) velocity thresholds, stimulating both the canals and otoliths (i.e., multisensory integration), decreased at lower frequencies and were significantly lower than earth-vertical rotation thresholds at each frequency below 2 Hz. These data suggest that multisensory integration of otolithic gravity cues with semicircular canal rotation cues enhances perceptual precision for tilt motions at frequencies below 2 Hz. We also showed that rotation thresholds, at least partially, were dependent on the orientation of the rotation plane relative to the anatomical alignment of the vertical canals. Collectively these data provide the first comprehensive report of how frequency and axis of rotation influence perception of rotational self-motion cues stimulating the vertical canals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Wagner
- Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Megan J. Kobel
- Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
- Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 915 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43212, USA
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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15
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Abstract
Roll tilt vestibular perceptual thresholds, an assay of vestibular noise, have recently been shown to be associated with suboptimal balance performance in healthy older adults. However, despite the strength of this correlation, the use of a categorical (i.e., pass/fail) balance assessment limits insight into the impacts of vestibular noise on postural sway. As a result, an explanation for this correlation has yet to be determined. We hypothesized that the correlation between roll tilt vestibular thresholds and postural control reflects a shared influence of sensory noise. To address this hypothesis, we measured roll tilt perceptual thresholds at multiple frequencies (0.2 Hz, 0.5 Hz, 1 Hz) and compared each threshold to quantitative measures of quiet stance postural control in 33 healthy young adults (mean = 24.9 years, SD = 3.67). Our data showed a significant linear association between 0.5 Hz roll tilt thresholds and the root mean square distance (RMSD) of the center of pressure in the mediolateral (ML; β = 5.31, p = 0.002, 95% CI = 2.1-8.5) but not anteroposterior (AP; β = 5.13, p = 0.016, 95% CI = 1.03-9.23) direction (Bonferroni corrected α of 0.006). In contrast, vestibular thresholds measured at 0.2 Hz and 1 Hz did not show a significant correlation with ML or AP RMSD. In a multivariable regression model, controlling for both 0.2 Hz and 1 Hz thresholds, the significant effect of 0.5 Hz roll tilt thresholds persisted (β = 5.44, p = 0.029, CI = 0.60-10.28), suggesting that the effect cannot be explained by elements shared by vestibular thresholds measured at the three frequencies. These data suggest that vestibular noise is significantly associated with the temporospatial control of quiet stance in the mediolateral plane when visual and proprioceptive cues are degraded (i.e., eyes closed, standing on foam). Furthermore, the selective association of quiet-stance sway with 0.5 Hz roll tilt thresholds, but not thresholds measured at lower (0.2 Hz) or higher (1.0 Hz) frequencies, may reflect the influence of noise that results from the temporal integration of noisy canal and otolith cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States.,School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Megan J Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States.,School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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16
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Wagner AR, Chaudhari AMW, Merfeld DM. Might Vestibular "Noise" Cause Subclinical Balance Impairment and Falls? Int J Phys Med Rehabil 2021; 9:001. [PMID: 35211643 PMCID: PMC8865383] [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] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Falls are the leading causes of accidental injury in older adults and directly contribute to more than 600,000 deaths each year worldwide. Although the issue of falls is complex, balance dysfunction is one the principal contributors to the heightened incidence of falls in older adults. A nationally representative survey of older adults in the United States showed that an inability to stand on a foam pad with the eyes closed was associated with more than a six-fold increase in the odds of reporting "difficulty with falls." As stability in the "eyes closed, on foam" condition is reliant upon intact vestibular cues, these data implicate age-related vestibular loss as a potential contributor to falls, yet, the specific causal mechanism explaining the link between age-related vestibular loss and imbalance/falls was not known. Here we review recent data showing that, vestibular perceptual thresholds, an assay of vestibular sensory noise, were found to, (1) account for nearly half of subclinical balance impairment in healthy older adults and (2) correlate with postural sway in healthy young adults. Based upon the identified links between balance dysfunction and vestibular noise in healthy adults, we posit the following causal chain: (a) increased "noise" in vestibular feedback - yielding a reduced signal-to-noise ratio in vestibular feedback-increases sway, (b) excessive sway leads to imbalance, and (c) imbalance contributes to falls. Identifying the "cause" of age-related balance dysfunction will inform the development of interventions tailored to prevent falls, and fall-related injuries, in the growing population of older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R Wagner
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Ajit MW Chaudhari
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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17
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Merfeld DM. Impact of gravity on the perception of linear motion. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:875-887. [PMID: 34320866 PMCID: PMC8461827 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00274.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [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: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate perception of gravity and translation is fundamental for balance, navigation, and motor control. Previous studies have reported that perceptual thresholds for earth-vertical (i.e., parallel to gravity) and earth-horizontal (i.e., perpendicular to gravity) translations are equivalent in healthy adults, suggesting that the nervous system compensates for the presence of gravity. However, past study designs were not able to fully separate the effect of gravity from the potential effects of motion direction and body orientation. To quantify the effect of gravity on translation perception relative to these alternative factors, we measured vestibular perceptual thresholds for three motion directions (inter-aural, naso-occipital, and superior-inferior) and three body orientations (upright, supine, and ear-down). In contrast to prior reports, our data suggest that the nervous system does not universally compensate for the effects of gravity during translation, instead, we show that the colinear effect of gravity significantly decreases the sensitivity to stimuli for motions sensed by the utricles (inter-aural and naso-occipital translation), but this effect was not significant for motions sensed by the saccules (superior-inferior translations). We also identified increased thresholds for superior-inferior translation, suggesting decreased sensitivity of motions sensed predominantly by the saccule. An overall effect of body orientation on perception was seen; however, post hoc analyses suggest that this orientation effect may reflect the impact of gravity on self-motion perception. Overall, our data provide fundamental insights into the manner by which the nervous system processes vestibular self-motion cues, showing that the effect of gravity on translation perception is impacted by the direction of motion.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Perception of gravity and translation are fundamental for self-motion perception, balance, and motor control. The central nervous system must accurately disambiguate peripheral otolith signals encoding both linear acceleration and gravity. In contrast to past reports, we show that perception of translation depends on both motion relative to gravity and motion relative to the head. These results provide fundamental insights into otolith-mediated perception and suggest that the nervous system must compensate for the presence of gravity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Andrew R Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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18
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Kobel MJ, Wagner AR, Merfeld DM, Mattingly JK. Vestibular Thresholds: A Review of Advances and Challenges in Clinical Applications. Front Neurol 2021; 12:643634. [PMID: 33679594 PMCID: PMC7933227 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.643634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Vestibular disorders pose a substantial burden on the healthcare system due to a high prevalence and the severity of symptoms. Currently, a large portion of patients experiencing vestibular symptoms receive an ambiguous diagnosis or one that is based solely on history, unconfirmed by any objective measures. As patients primarily experience perceptual symptoms (e.g., dizziness), recent studies have investigated the use of vestibular perceptual thresholds, a quantitative measure of vestibular perception, in clinical populations. This review provides an overview of vestibular perceptual thresholds and the current literature assessing use in clinical populations as a potential diagnostic tool. Patients with peripheral and central vestibular pathologies, including bilateral vestibulopathy and vestibular migraine, show characteristic changes in vestibular thresholds. Vestibular perceptual thresholds have also been found to detect subtle, sub-clinical declines in vestibular function in asymptomatic older adults, suggesting a potential use of vestibular thresholds to augment or complement existing diagnostic methods in multiple populations. Vestibular thresholds are a reliable, sensitive, and specific assay of vestibular precision, however, continued research is needed to better understand the possible applications and limitations, especially with regard to the diagnosis of vestibular disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan J Kobel
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Andrew R Wagner
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Jameson K Mattingly
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
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19
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Wagner AR, Akinsola O, Chaudhari AMW, Bigelow KE, Merfeld DM. Measuring Vestibular Contributions to Age-Related Balance Impairment: A Review. Front Neurol 2021; 12:635305. [PMID: 33633678 PMCID: PMC7900546 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.635305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Aging is associated with progressive declines in both the vestibular and human balance systems. While vestibular lesions certainly contribute to imbalance, the specific contributions of age-related vestibular declines to age-related balance impairment is poorly understood. This gap in knowledge results from the absence of a standardized method for measuring age-related changes to the vestibular balance pathways. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide an overview of the existing body of literature as it pertains to the methods currently used to infer vestibular contributions to age-related imbalance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Wagner
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Olaoluwa Akinsola
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Ajit M. W. Chaudhari
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Kimberly E. Bigelow
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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20
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Abstract
Controlling posture requires continuous sensory feedback about body motion and orientation, including from the vestibular organs. Little is known about the role of tilt vs. translation vs. rotation vestibular cues. We examined whether intersubject differences in vestibular function were correlated with intersubject differences in postural control. Vestibular function was assayed using vestibular direction-recognition perceptual thresholds, which determine the smallest motion that can be reliably perceived by a subject seated on a motorized platform in the dark. In study A, we measured thresholds for lateral translation, vertical translation, yaw rotation, and head-centered roll tilts. In study B, we measured thresholds for roll, pitch, and left anterior-right posterior and right anterior-left posterior tilts. Center-of-pressure (CoP) sway was measured in sensory organization tests (study A) and Romberg tests (study B). We found a strong positive relationship between CoP sway and lateral translation thresholds but not CoP sway and other thresholds. This finding suggests that the vestibular encoding of lateral translation may contribute substantially to balance control. Since thresholds assay sensory noise, our results support the hypothesis that vestibular noise contributes to spontaneous postural sway. Specifically, we found that lateral translation thresholds explained more of the variation in postural sway in postural test conditions with altered proprioceptive cues (vs. a solid surface), consistent with postural sway being more dependent on vestibular noise when the vestibular contribution to balance is higher. These results have potential implications for vestibular implants, balance prostheses, and physical therapy exercises.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Vestibular feedback is important for postural control, but little is known about the role of tilt cues vs. translation cues vs. rotation cues. We studied healthy human subjects with no known vestibular pathology or symptoms. Our findings showed that vestibular encoding of lateral translation correlated with medial-lateral postural sway, consistent with lateral translation cues contributing to balance control. This adds support to the hypothesis that vestibular noise contributes to spontaneous postural sway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Adam D Goodworth
- Kinesiology Department, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California
| | - Yulia Valko
- Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Tania Leeder
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Robert J Peterka
- Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.,National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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21
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Karmali F, Bermúdez Rey MC, Clark TK, Wang W, Merfeld DM. Corrigendum: Multivariate Analyses of Balance Test Performance, Vestibular Thresholds, and Age. Front Neurol 2020; 11:556797. [PMID: 33324315 PMCID: PMC7726469 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.556797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Faisal Karmali
| | - María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Torin K. Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
- Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Wei Wang
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Daniel M. Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
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22
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Agrawal Y, Merfeld DM, Horak FB, Redfern MS, Manor B, Westlake KP, Holstein GR, Smith PF, Bhatt T, Bohnen NI, Lipsitz LA. Aging, Vestibular Function, and Balance: Proceedings of a National Institute on Aging/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Workshop. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2020; 75:2471-2480. [PMID: 32617555 PMCID: PMC7662183 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glaa097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [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: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Balance impairment and falls are among the most prevalent and morbid conditions affecting older adults. A critical contributor to balance and gait function is the vestibular system; however, there remain substantial knowledge gaps regarding age-related vestibular loss and its contribution to balance impairment and falls in older adults. Given these knowledge gaps, the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders convened a multidisciplinary workshop in April 2019 that brought together experts from a wide array of disciplines, such as vestibular physiology, neuroscience, movement science, rehabilitation, and geriatrics. The goal of the workshop was to identify key knowledge gaps on vestibular function and balance control in older adults and develop a research agenda to make substantial advancements in the field. This article provides a report of the proceedings of this workshop. Three key questions emerged from the workshop, specifically: (i) How does aging impact vestibular function?; (ii) How do we know what is the contribution of age-related vestibular impairment to an older adult's balance problem?; and more broadly, (iii) Can we develop a nosology of balance impairments in older adults that can guide clinical practice? For each of these key questions, the current knowledge is reviewed, and the critical knowledge gaps and research strategies to address them are discussed. This document outlines an ambitious 5- to 10-year research agenda for increasing knowledge related to vestibular impairment and balance control in older adults, with the ultimate goal of linking this knowledge to more effective treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Agrawal
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ohio State University, Columbus
| | - Fay B Horak
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
| | - Mark S Redfern
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Brad Manor
- Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | - Gay R Holstein
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Paul F Smith
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Brain Research New Zealand, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Tanvi Bhatt
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago
| | - Nicolaas I Bohnen
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - Lewis A Lipsitz
- Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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23
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Abstract
When making decisions, people naturally ask two implicit questions: how soon can I make a decision, and how certain am I? In perception, people's confidence (how certain?) shows a nonmonotonic relationship with response time (how soon?), such that choice confidence can either increase or decrease with response time. Although a frontoparietal network has been implicated as a neural substrate that binds choice confidence and action (e.g., response time), the dynamic interplay between choice behaviors within such a network has not been clarified. Here, we show that frontal event-related potentials (ERPs) reflect choice confidence before a decision. Specifically, we report a second positive peak of the stimulus-locked frontal ERP at ~500 ms that scales with confidence but not stimulus level, whereas the centroparietal ERP amplitude covaries inversely with response time. This frontal ERP component occurs before the response, which helps explain the inverse relationship between choice confidence and response time (i.e., higher confidence for shorter response time) when choice accuracy is emphasized over speed. Our findings provide the first early neural representation of confidence, consistent with the temporal precedence for its causal role in the current decision-making task: "I decided earlier because I am confident."NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report novel neural correlates of predecisional choice confidence in frontal scalp potential in humans. In conjunction with the centroparietal choice-action event-related potential component, this new frontal choice confidence component further elucidates the dynamics of the frontoparietal decision-making neural circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koeun Lim
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Wei Wang
- Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University Medical College, Columbus, Ohio
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24
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Rahnev D, Desender K, Lee ALF, Adler WT, Aguilar-Lleyda D, Akdoğan B, Arbuzova P, Atlas LY, Balcı F, Bang JW, Bègue I, Birney DP, Brady TF, Calder-Travis J, Chetverikov A, Clark TK, Davranche K, Denison RN, Dildine TC, Double KS, Duyan YA, Faivre N, Fallow K, Filevich E, Gajdos T, Gallagher RM, de Gardelle V, Gherman S, Haddara N, Hainguerlot M, Hsu TY, Hu X, Iturrate I, Jaquiery M, Kantner J, Koculak M, Konishi M, Koß C, Kvam PD, Kwok SC, Lebreton M, Lempert KM, Ming Lo C, Luo L, Maniscalco B, Martin A, Massoni S, Matthews J, Mazancieux A, Merfeld DM, O'Hora D, Palser ER, Paulewicz B, Pereira M, Peters C, Philiastides MG, Pfuhl G, Prieto F, Rausch M, Recht S, Reyes G, Rouault M, Sackur J, Sadeghi S, Samaha J, Seow TXF, Shekhar M, Sherman MT, Siedlecka M, Skóra Z, Song C, Soto D, Sun S, van Boxtel JJA, Wang S, Weidemann CT, Weindel G, Wierzchoń M, Xu X, Ye Q, Yeon J, Zou F, Zylberberg A. The Confidence Database. Nat Hum Behav 2020; 4:317-325. [PMID: 32015487 PMCID: PMC7565481 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0813-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how people rate their confidence is critical for the characterization of a wide range of perceptual, memory, motor and cognitive processes. To enable the continued exploration of these processes, we created a large database of confidence studies spanning a broad set of paradigms, participant populations and fields of study. The data from each study are structured in a common, easy-to-use format that can be easily imported and analysed using multiple software packages. Each dataset is accompanied by an explanation regarding the nature of the collected data. At the time of publication, the Confidence Database (which is available at https://osf.io/s46pr/) contained 145 datasets with data from more than 8,700 participants and almost 4 million trials. The database will remain open for new submissions indefinitely and is expected to continue to grow. Here we show the usefulness of this large collection of datasets in four different analyses that provide precise estimations of several foundational confidence-related effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dobromir Rahnev
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Kobe Desender
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Alan L F Lee
- Department of Applied Psychology and Wofoo Joseph Lee Consulting and Counselling Psychology Research Centre, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
| | - William T Adler
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Aguilar-Lleyda
- Centre d'Économie de la Sorbonne, CNRS & Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
| | - Başak Akdoğan
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Polina Arbuzova
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lauren Y Atlas
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Fuat Balcı
- Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ji Won Bang
- Department of Ophthalmology, New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Indrit Bègue
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University Hospitals of Geneva and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Damian P Birney
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Timothy F Brady
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Andrey Chetverikov
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Torin K Clark
- Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | | | - Rachel N Denison
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Troy C Dildine
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | - Kit S Double
- Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Yalçın A Duyan
- Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Nathan Faivre
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Kaitlyn Fallow
- Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Elisa Filevich
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Regan M Gallagher
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Experimental & Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Sabina Gherman
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
- Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA
| | - Nadia Haddara
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Marine Hainguerlot
- Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tzu-Yu Hsu
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Xiao Hu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Iñaki Iturrate
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Matt Jaquiery
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Justin Kantner
- Department of Psycholgoy, California State University, Northridge, CA, USA
| | - Marcin Koculak
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Mahiko Konishi
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et de Psycholinguistique, Department d'Etudes Cognitives, ENS, PSL University, EHESS, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Christina Koß
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter D Kvam
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sze Chai Kwok
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics Ministry of Education, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Maël Lebreton
- Swiss Center for Affective Science and LaBNIC, Department of Basic Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Karolina M Lempert
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Chien Ming Lo
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Brain and Consciousness Research Centre, TMU Shuang-Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Liang Luo
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Brian Maniscalco
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Antonio Martin
- Graduate Institute of Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Sébastien Massoni
- Université de Lorraine, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, BETA, Nancy, France
| | - Julian Matthews
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Philosophy Department, Monash University, Monash, Victoria, Australia
| | - Audrey Mazancieux
- Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Denis O'Hora
- School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Eleanor R Palser
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Psychology and Language Sciences, University College Londo, London, UK
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Borysław Paulewicz
- SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Katowice Faculty of Psychology, Katowice, Poland
| | - Michael Pereira
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Peters
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Gerit Pfuhl
- Department of Psychology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway
| | - Fernanda Prieto
- Faculty of Psychology, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Manuel Rausch
- Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany
| | - Samuel Recht
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, Département d'Études Cognitives, École normale supérieure-PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Gabriel Reyes
- Faculty of Psychology, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Marion Rouault
- Département d'Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL University, CNRS, EHESS, INSERM, Paris, France
| | - Jérôme Sackur
- Département d'Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL University, CNRS, EHESS, INSERM, Paris, France
- École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
| | - Saeedeh Sadeghi
- Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Jason Samaha
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Tricia X F Seow
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Medha Shekhar
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Maxine T Sherman
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Brighton, UK
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Marta Siedlecka
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Zuzanna Skóra
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Chen Song
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - David Soto
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Sai Sun
- Divisions of Biology and Biological Engineering and Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Jeroen J A van Boxtel
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Discipline of Psychology, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Shuo Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
| | | | | | - Michał Wierzchoń
- Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Xinming Xu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics Ministry of Education, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qun Ye
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics Ministry of Education, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiwon Yeon
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Futing Zou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics Ministry of Education, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ariel Zylberberg
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
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Abstract
Decision making is a fundamental subfield within neuroscience. While recent findings have yielded major advances in our understanding of decision making, confidence in such decisions remains poorly understood. In this paper, we present a confidence signal detection (CSD) model that combines a standard signal detection model yielding a noisy decision variable with a model of confidence. The CSD model requires quantitative measures of confidence obtained by recording confidence probability judgments. Specifically, we model confidence probability judgments for binary direction recognition (e.g., did I move left or right) decisions. We use our CSD model to study both confidence calibration (i.e., how does confidence compare with performance) and the distributions of confidence probability judgments. We evaluate two variants of our CSD model: a conventional model with two free parameters (CSD2) that assumes that confidence is well calibrated and our new model with three free parameters (CSD3) that includes an additional confidence scaling factor. On average, our CSD2 and CSD3 models explain 73 and 82%, respectively, of the variance found in our empirical data set. Furthermore, for our large data sets consisting of 3,600 trials per subject, correlation and residual analyses suggest that the CSD3 model better explains the predominant aspects of the empirical data than the CSD2 model, especially for subjects whose confidence is not well calibrated. Moreover, simulations show that asymmetric confidence distributions can lead traditional confidence calibration analyses to suggest "underconfidence" even when confidence is perfectly calibrated. These findings show that this CSD model can be used to help improve our understanding of confidence and decision making.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We make life-or-death decisions each day; our actions depend on our "confidence." Though confidence, accuracy, and response time are the three pillars of decision making, we know little about confidence. In a previous paper, we presented a new model - dependent on a single scaling parameter - that transforms decision variables to confidence. Here we show that this model explains the empirical human confidence distributions obtained during a vestibular direction recognition task better than standard signal detection models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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26
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Clark TK, Newman MC, Karmali F, Oman CM, Merfeld DM. Mathematical models for dynamic, multisensory spatial orientation perception. Prog Brain Res 2019; 248:65-90. [PMID: 31239146 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Mathematical models have been proposed for how the brain interprets sensory information to produce estimates of self-orientation and self-motion. This process, spatial orientation perception, requires dynamically integrating multiple sensory modalities, including visual, vestibular, and somatosensory cues. Here, we review the progress in mathematical modeling of spatial orientation perception, focusing on dynamic multisensory models, and the experimental paradigms in which they have been validated. These models are primarily "black box" or "as if" models for how the brain processes spatial orientation cues. Yet, they have been effective scientifically, in making quantitative hypotheses that can be empirically assessed, and operationally, in investigating aircraft pilot disorientation, for example. The primary family of models considered, the observer model, implements estimation theory approaches, hypothesizing that internal models (i.e., neural systems replicating the behavior/dynamics of physical systems) are used to produce expected sensory measurements. Expected signals are then compared to actual sensory afference, yielding sensory conflict, which is weighted to drive central perceptions of gravity, angular velocity, and translation. This approach effectively predicts a wide range of experimental scenarios using a small set of fixed free parameters. We conclude with limitations and applications of existing mathematical models and important areas of future work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States.
| | - Michael C Newman
- Environmental Tectonics Corporation, Southampton, PA, United States
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States; Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Charles M Oman
- Human Systems Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States; Naval Aerospace Medical Research Lab (NAMRL), Naval Medical Research Unit-Dayton (NAMRUD), Dayton, OH, United States
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27
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Beylergil SB, Karmali F, Wang W, Bermúdez Rey MC, Merfeld DM. Vestibular roll tilt thresholds partially mediate age-related effects on balance. Progress in Brain Research 2019; 248:249-267. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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28
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Clark TK, Yi Y, Galvan-Garza RC, Bermúdez Rey MC, Merfeld DM. When uncertain, does human self-motion decision-making fully utilize complete information? J Neurophysiol 2017; 119:1485-1496. [PMID: 29357467 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00680.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When forced to choose humans often feel uncertain. Investigations of human perceptual decision-making often employ signal detection theory, which assumes that even when uncertain all available information is fully utilized. However, other studies have suggested or assumed that, when uncertain, human subjects guess totally at random, ignoring available information. When uncertain, do humans simply guess totally at random? Or do humans fully utilize complete information? Or does behavior fall between these two extremes yielding "above chance" performance without fully utilizing complete information? While it is often assumed complete information is fully utilized, even when uncertain, to our knowledge this has never been experimentally confirmed. To answer this question, we combined numerical simulations, theoretical analyses, and human studies performed using a self-motion direction-recognition perceptual decision-making task (did I rotate left or right?). Subjects were instructed to make forced-choice binary (left/right) and trinary (left/right/uncertain) decisions when cued following each stimulus. Our results show that humans 1) do not guess at random when uncertain and 2) make binary and trinary decisions equally well. These findings show that humans fully utilize complete information when uncertain for our perceptual decision-making task. This helps unify signal detection theory and other models of forced-choice decision-making which allow for uncertain responses. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Humans make many perceptual decisions every day. But what if we are uncertain? While many studies assume that humans fully utilize complete information, other studies have suggested and/or assumed that when we're uncertain and forced to decide, information is not fully utilized. While humans tend to perform above chance when uncertain, no earlier study has tested whether available information is fully utilized. Our results show that humans make fully informed decisions even when uncertain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.,Man-Vehicle Laboratory, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder , Boulder, Colorado
| | - Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | - María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School , Boston, Massachusetts.,Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University , Columbus, Ohio
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29
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Bermúdez Rey MC, Clark TK, Merfeld DM. Balance Screening of Vestibular Function in Subjects Aged 4 Years and Older: A Living Laboratory Experience. Front Neurol 2017; 8:631. [PMID: 29234301 PMCID: PMC5712334 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
To better understand the various individual factors that contribute to balance and the relation to fall risk, we performed the modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support, with 1,174 participants between 4 and 83 years of age. This research was conducted in the Living Laboratory® at the Museum of Science, Boston. We specifically focus on balance test condition 4, in which individuals stand on memory foam with eyes closed, and must rely on their vestibular system; therefore, performance in this balance test condition provides a proxy for vestibular function. We looked for balance variations associated with sex, race/ethnicity, health factors, and age. We found that balance test performance was stable between 10 and 39 years of age, with a slight increase in the failure rate for participants 4-9 years of age, suggesting a period of balance development in younger children. For participants 40 years and older, the balance test failure rate increased progressively with age. Diabetes and obesity are the two main health factors we found associated with poor balance, with test condition 4 failure rates of 57 and 19%, respectively. An increase in the odds of having fallen in the last year was associated with a decrease in the time to failure; once individuals dropped below a time to failure of 10 s, there was a significant 5.5-fold increase in the odds of having fallen in the last 12 months. These data alert us to screen for poor vestibular function in individuals 40 years and older or suffering from diabetes, in order to undertake the necessary diagnostic and rehabilitation measures, with a focus on reducing the morbidity and mortality of falls.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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30
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Karmali F, Bermúdez Rey MC, Clark TK, Wang W, Merfeld DM. Multivariate Analyses of Balance Test Performance, Vestibular Thresholds, and Age. Front Neurol 2017; 8:578. [PMID: 29167656 PMCID: PMC5682300 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
We previously published vestibular perceptual thresholds and performance in the Modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance in 105 healthy humans ranging from ages 18 to 80 (1). Self-motion thresholds in the dark included roll tilt about an earth-horizontal axis at 0.2 and 1 Hz, yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis at 1 Hz, y-translation (interaural/lateral) at 1 Hz, and z-translation (vertical) at 1 Hz. In this study, we focus on multiple variable analyses not reported in the earlier study. Specifically, we investigate correlations (1) among the five thresholds measured and (2) between thresholds, age, and the chance of failing condition 4 of the balance test, which increases vestibular reliance by having subjects stand on foam with eyes closed. We found moderate correlations (0.30–0.51) between vestibular thresholds for different motions, both before and after using our published aging regression to remove age effects. We found that lower or higher thresholds across all threshold measures are an individual trait that account for about 60% of the variation in the population. This can be further distributed into two components with about 20% of the variation explained by aging and 40% of variation explained by a single principal component that includes similar contributions from all threshold measures. When only roll tilt 0.2 Hz thresholds and age were analyzed together, we found that the chance of failing condition 4 depends significantly on both (p = 0.006 and p = 0.013, respectively). An analysis incorporating more variables found that the chance of failing condition 4 depended significantly only on roll tilt 0.2 Hz thresholds (p = 0.046) and not age (p = 0.10), sex nor any of the other four threshold measures, suggesting that some of the age effect might be captured by the fact that vestibular thresholds increase with age. For example, at 60 years of age, the chance of failing is roughly 5% for the lowest roll tilt thresholds in our population, but this increases to 80% for the highest roll tilt thresholds. These findings demonstrate the importance of roll tilt vestibular cues for balance, even in individuals reporting no vestibular symptoms and with no evidence of vestibular dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - María Carolina Bermúdez Rey
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Wei Wang
- Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.,Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, United States.,Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
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31
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Lim K, Wang W, Merfeld DM. Unbounded evidence accumulation characterizes subjective visual vertical forced-choice perceptual choice and confidence. J Neurophysiol 2017; 118:2636-2653. [PMID: 28747465 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00318.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [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: 05/01/2017] [Revised: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans can subjectively yet quantitatively assess choice confidence based on perceptual precision even when a perceptual decision is made without an immediate reward or feedback. However, surprisingly little is known about choice confidence. Here we investigate the dynamics of choice confidence by merging two parallel conceptual frameworks of decision making, signal detection theory and sequential analyses (i.e., drift-diffusion modeling). Specifically, to capture end-point statistics of binary choice and confidence, we built on a previous study that defined choice confidence in terms of psychophysics derived from signal detection theory. At the same time, we augmented this mathematical model to include accumulator dynamics of a drift-diffusion model to characterize the time dependence of the choice behaviors in a standard forced-choice paradigm in which stimulus duration is controlled by the operator. Human subjects performed a subjective visual vertical task, simultaneously reporting binary orientation choice and probabilistic confidence. Both binary choice and confidence experimental data displayed statistics and dynamics consistent with both signal detection theory and evidence accumulation, respectively. Specifically, the computational simulations showed that the unbounded evidence accumulator model fits the confidence data better than the classical bounded model, while bounded and unbounded models were indistinguishable for binary choice data. These results suggest that the brain can utilize mechanisms consistent with signal detection theory-especially when judging confidence without time pressure.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We found that choice confidence data show dynamics consistent with evidence accumulation for a forced-choice subjective visual vertical task. We also found that the evidence accumulation appeared unbounded when judging confidence, which suggests that the brain utilizes mechanisms consistent with signal detection theory to determine choice confidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koeun Lim
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Wei Wang
- Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; .,Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Lim K, Karmali F, Nicoucar K, Merfeld DM. Perceptual precision of passive body tilt is consistent with statistically optimal cue integration. J Neurophysiol 2017; 117:2037-2052. [PMID: 28179477 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00073.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [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: 01/26/2016] [Revised: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
When making perceptual decisions, humans have been shown to optimally integrate independent noisy multisensory information, matching maximum-likelihood (ML) limits. Such ML estimators provide a theoretic limit to perceptual precision (i.e., minimal thresholds). However, how the brain combines two interacting (i.e., not independent) sensory cues remains an open question. To study the precision achieved when combining interacting sensory signals, we measured perceptual roll tilt and roll rotation thresholds between 0 and 5 Hz in six normal human subjects. Primary results show that roll tilt thresholds between 0.2 and 0.5 Hz were significantly lower than predicted by a ML estimator that includes only vestibular contributions that do not interact. In this paper, we show how other cues (e.g., somatosensation) and an internal representation of sensory and body dynamics might independently contribute to the observed performance enhancement. In short, a Kalman filter was combined with an ML estimator to match human performance, whereas the potential contribution of nonvestibular cues was assessed using published bilateral loss patient data. Our results show that a Kalman filter model including previously proven canal-otolith interactions alone (without nonvestibular cues) can explain the observed performance enhancements as can a model that includes nonvestibular contributions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We found that human whole body self-motion direction-recognition thresholds measured during dynamic roll tilts were significantly lower than those predicted by a conventional maximum-likelihood weighting of the roll angular velocity and quasistatic roll tilt cues. Here, we show that two models can each match this "apparent" better-than-optimal performance: 1) inclusion of a somatosensory contribution and 2) inclusion of a dynamic sensory interaction between canal and otolith cues via a Kalman filter model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koeun Lim
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; .,Program in Speech and Hearing Biosciences and Technology, Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Keyvan Nicoucar
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts.,Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Bermúdez Rey MC, Clark TK, Wang W, Leeder T, Bian Y, Merfeld DM. Vestibular Perceptual Thresholds Increase above the Age of 40. Front Neurol 2016; 7:162. [PMID: 27752252 PMCID: PMC5046616 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2016.00162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2016] [Accepted: 09/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We measured vestibular perceptual thresholds in 105 healthy humans (54F/51M) ranging from 18 to 80 years of age. Direction-recognition thresholds were measured using standard methods. The motion consisted of single cycles of sinusoidal acceleration at 0.2 Hz for roll tilt and 1.0 Hz for yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis, inter-aural earth-horizontal translation (y-translation), inferior-superior earth-vertical translation (z-translation), and roll tilt. A large subset of this population (99 of 105) also performed a modified Romberg test of standing balance. Despite the relatively large population (54F/51M), we found no difference between thresholds of male and female subjects. After pooling across sex, we found that thresholds increased above the age of 40 for all five motion directions investigated. The data were best modeled by a two-segment age model that yielded a constant baseline below an age cutoff of about 40 and a threshold increase above the age cutoff. For all subjects who passed all conditions of the balance test, the baseline thresholds were 0.97°/s for yaw rotation, 0.66°/s for 1-Hz roll tilt, 0.35°/s for 0.2-Hz roll tilt, 0.58 cm/s for y-translation, and 1.24 cm/s for z-translation. As a percentage of the baseline, the fitted slopes (indicating the threshold increase each decade above the age cutoff) were 83% for z-translation, 56% for 1-Hz roll tilt, 46% for y-translation, 32% for 0.2-Hz roll tilt, and 15% for yaw rotation. Even taking age and other factors into consideration, we found a significant correlation of balance test failures with increasing roll-tilt thresholds.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Torin K Clark
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, MEEI, Boston, MA, USA; University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Wei Wang
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tania Leeder
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, MEEI , Boston, MA , USA
| | - Yong Bian
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, MEEI, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, MEEI, Boston, MA, USA
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34
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Yi Y, Merfeld DM. A quantitative confidence signal detection model: 1. Fitting psychometric functions. J Neurophysiol 2016; 115:1932-45. [PMID: 26763777 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00318.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [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: 03/30/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceptual thresholds are commonly assayed in the laboratory and clinic. When precision and accuracy are required, thresholds are quantified by fitting a psychometric function to forced-choice data. The primary shortcoming of this approach is that it typically requires 100 trials or more to yield accurate (i.e., small bias) and precise (i.e., small variance) psychometric parameter estimates. We show that confidence probability judgments combined with a model of confidence can yield psychometric parameter estimates that are markedly more precise and/or markedly more efficient than conventional methods. Specifically, both human data and simulations show that including confidence probability judgments for just 20 trials can yield psychometric parameter estimates that match the precision of those obtained from 100 trials using conventional analyses. Such an efficiency advantage would be especially beneficial for tasks (e.g., taste, smell, and vestibular assays) that require more than a few seconds for each trial, but this potential benefit could accrue for many other tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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35
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Karmali F, Chaudhuri SE, Yi Y, Merfeld DM. Determining thresholds using adaptive procedures and psychometric fits: evaluating efficiency using theory, simulations, and human experiments. Exp Brain Res 2015; 234:773-89. [PMID: 26645306 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4501-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [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: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
When measuring thresholds, careful selection of stimulus amplitude can increase efficiency by increasing the precision of psychometric fit parameters (e.g., decreasing the fit parameter error bars). To find efficient adaptive algorithms for psychometric threshold ("sigma") estimation, we combined analytic approaches, Monte Carlo simulations, and human experiments for a one-interval, binary forced-choice, direction-recognition task. To our knowledge, this is the first time analytic results have been combined and compared with either simulation or human results. Human performance was consistent with theory and not significantly different from simulation predictions. Our analytic approach provides a bound on efficiency, which we compared against the efficiency of standard staircase algorithms, a modified staircase algorithm with asymmetric step sizes, and a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) procedure. Simulation results suggest that optimal efficiency at determining threshold is provided by the MLE procedure targeting a fraction correct level of 0.92, an asymmetric 4-down, 1-up staircase targeting between 0.86 and 0.92 or a standard 6-down, 1-up staircase. Psychometric test efficiency, computed by comparing simulation and analytic results, was between 41 and 58% for 50 trials for these three algorithms, reaching up to 84% for 200 trials. These approaches were 13-21% more efficient than the commonly used 3-down, 1-up symmetric staircase. We also applied recent advances to reduce accuracy errors using a bias-reduced fitting approach. Taken together, the results lend confidence that the assumptions underlying each approach are reasonable and that human threshold forced-choice decision making is modeled well by detection theory models and mimics simulations based on detection theory models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA. .,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Shomesh E Chaudhuri
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Yongwoo Yi
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.,Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Abstract
Perceptual decision making is fundamental to a broad range of fields including neurophysiology, economics, medicine, advertising, law, etc. Although recent findings have yielded major advances in our understanding of perceptual decision making, decision making as a function of time and frequency (i.e., decision-making dynamics) is not well understood. To limit the review length, we focus most of this review on human findings. Animal findings, which are extensively reviewed elsewhere, are included when beneficial or necessary. We attempt to put these various findings and data sets, which can appear to be unrelated in the absence of a formal dynamic analysis, into context using published models. Specifically, by adding appropriate dynamic mechanisms (e.g., high-pass filters) to existing models, it appears that a number of otherwise seemingly disparate findings from the literature might be explained. One hypothesis that arises through this dynamic analysis is that decision making includes phasic (high pass) neural mechanisms, an evidence accumulator and/or some sort of midtrial decision-making mechanism (e.g., peak detector and/or decision boundary).
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Torin K Clark
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Yue M Lu
- Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
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37
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Poppendieck W, Sossalla A, Krob MO, Welsch C, Nguyen TAK, Gong W, DiGiovanna J, Micera S, Merfeld DM, Hoffmann KP. Development, manufacturing and application of double-sided flexible implantable microelectrodes. Biomed Microdevices 2015; 16:837-50. [PMID: 25078417 DOI: 10.1007/s10544-014-9887-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Many neuroprosthetic applications require the use of very small, flexible multi-channel microelectrodes (e.g. polyimide-based film-like electrodes) to fit anatomical constraints. By arranging the electrode contacts on both sides of the polyimide film, selectivity can be further increased without increasing size. In this work, two approaches to create such double-sided electrodes are described and compared: sandwich electrodes prepared by precisely gluing two single-sided structures together, and monolithic electrodes created using a new double-sided photolithography process. Both methods were successfully applied to manufacture double-sided electrodes for stimulation of the vestibular system. In a case study, the electrodes were implanted in the semicircular canals of three guinea pigs and proven to provide electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve. For both the monolithic electrodes and the sandwich electrodes, long-term stability and functionality was observed over a period of more than 12 months. Comparing the two types of electrodes with respect to the manufacturing process, it can be concluded that monolithic electrodes are the preferred solution for very thin electrodes (<20 μm), while sandwich electrode technology is especially suitable for thicker electrodes (40-50 μm).
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Affiliation(s)
- Wigand Poppendieck
- Department Medical Engineering and Neuroprosthetics, Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering, 66386, Ensheimer Strasse 48, St. Ingbert, Germany,
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38
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Clark TK, Newman MC, Oman CM, Merfeld DM, Young LR. Modeling human perception of orientation in altered gravity. Front Syst Neurosci 2015; 9:68. [PMID: 25999822 PMCID: PMC4419856 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2015.00068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2015] [Accepted: 04/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Altered gravity environments, such as those experienced by astronauts, impact spatial orientation perception, and can lead to spatial disorientation and sensorimotor impairment. To more fully understand and quantify the impact of altered gravity on orientation perception, several mathematical models have been proposed. The utricular shear, tangent, and the idiotropic vector models aim to predict static perception of tilt in hyper-gravity. Predictions from these prior models are compared to the available data, but are found to systematically err from the perceptions experimentally observed. Alternatively, we propose a modified utricular shear model for static tilt perception in hyper-gravity. Previous dynamic models of vestibular function and orientation perception are limited to 1 G. Specifically, they fail to predict the characteristic overestimation of roll tilt observed in hyper-gravity environments. To address this, we have proposed a modification to a previous observer-type canal-otolith interaction model based upon the hypothesis that the central nervous system (CNS) treats otolith stimulation in the utricular plane differently than stimulation out of the utricular plane. Here we evaluate our modified utricular shear and modified observer models in four altered gravity motion paradigms: (a) static roll tilt in hyper-gravity, (b) static pitch tilt in hyper-gravity, (c) static roll tilt in hypo-gravity, and (d) static pitch tilt in hypo-gravity. The modified models match available data in each of the conditions considered. Our static modified utricular shear model and dynamic modified observer model may be used to help quantitatively predict astronaut perception of orientation in altered gravity environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA ; Jenks Vestibular Psychology Laboratory, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael C Newman
- National Aerospace Training and Research Center Southampton, PA, USA
| | - Charles M Oman
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Psychology Laboratory, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA
| | - Laurence R Young
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA
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39
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Clark TK, Newman MC, Oman CM, Merfeld DM, Young LR. Human perceptual overestimation of whole body roll tilt in hypergravity. J Neurophysiol 2014; 113:2062-77. [PMID: 25540216 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00095.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [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: 01/30/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Hypergravity provides a unique environment to study human perception of orientation. We utilized a long-radius centrifuge to study perception of both static and dynamic whole body roll tilt in hypergravity, across a range of angles, frequencies, and net gravito-inertial levels (referred to as G levels). While studies of static tilt perception in hypergravity have been published, this is the first to measure dynamic tilt perception (i.e., with time-varying canal stimulation) in hypergravity using a continuous matching task. In complete darkness, subjects reported their orientation perception using a haptic task, whereby they attempted to align a hand-held bar with their perceived horizontal. Static roll tilt was overestimated in hypergravity, with more overestimation at larger angles and higher G levels, across the conditions tested (overestimated by ∼35% per additional G level, P < 0.001). As our primary contribution, we show that dynamic roll tilt was also consistently overestimated in hypergravity (P < 0.001) at all angles and frequencies tested, again with more overestimation at higher G levels. The overestimation was similar to that for static tilts at low angular velocities but decreased at higher angular velocities (P = 0.006), consistent with semicircular canal sensory integration. To match our findings, we propose a modification to a previous Observer-type canal-otolith interaction model. Specifically, our data were better modeled by including the hypothesis that the central nervous system treats otolith stimulation in the utricular plane differently than stimulation out of the utricular plane. This modified model was able to simulate quantitatively both the static and the dynamic roll tilt overestimation in hypergravity measured experimentally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torin K Clark
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts;
| | - Michael C Newman
- National Aerospace Training and Research Center, Southampton, Pennsylvania; and
| | - Charles M Oman
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Laurence R Young
- Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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40
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Priesol AJ, Valko Y, Merfeld DM, Lewis RF. Motion Perception in Patients with Idiopathic Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2014; 150:1040-2. [PMID: 24647642 DOI: 10.1177/0194599814526557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [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: 12/06/2013] [Accepted: 02/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We measured vestibular perceptual thresholds in patients with idiopathic bilateral vestibulopathy to assess the distribution of peripheral vestibular damage in this disorder. Thresholds were measured with standard psychometric techniques in 4 patients and compared with thresholds in normal subjects and patients with completely absent peripheral vestibular function. Motion paradigms included yaw rotation (testing the lateral canals), interaural translation (testing the utricles), superior-inferior translation (testing the saccules), and roll tilt (testing the vertical semicircular canals and the otolith organs). We found that perceptual thresholds were abnormally elevated in the patients with idiopathic bilateral vestibulopathy for yaw rotation at all frequencies and for interaural translation at only the lower frequencies. Thresholds were normal for the other 2 motion paradigms. The results demonstrate that the distribution of vestibular dysfunction in this disorder is not uniform but, rather, can affect lateral canal and utricular thresholds while relatively sparing vertical canal and saccular function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian J Priesol
- Department of Otology & Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Yulia Valko
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Department of Otology & Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Richard F Lewis
- Department of Otology & Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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41
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Karmali F, Lim K, Merfeld DM. Visual and vestibular perceptual thresholds each demonstrate better precision at specific frequencies and also exhibit optimal integration. J Neurophysiol 2013; 111:2393-403. [PMID: 24371292 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00332.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior studies show that visual motion perception is more precise than vestibular motion perception, but it is unclear whether this is universal or the result of specific experimental conditions. We compared visual and vestibular motion precision over a broad range of temporal frequencies by measuring thresholds for vestibular (subject motion in the dark), visual (visual scene motion) or visual-vestibular (subject motion in the light) stimuli. Specifically, thresholds were measured for motion frequencies spanning a two-decade physiological range (0.05-5 Hz) using single-cycle sinusoidal acceleration roll tilt trajectories (i.e., distinguishing left-side down from right-side down). We found that, while visual and vestibular thresholds were broadly similar between 0.05 and 5.0 Hz, each cue is significantly more precise than the other at certain frequencies. Specifically, we found that 1) visual and vestibular thresholds were indistinguishable at 0.05 Hz and 2 Hz (i.e., similarly precise); 2) visual thresholds were lower (i.e., vision more precise) than vestibular thresholds between 0.1 Hz and 1 Hz; and 3) visual thresholds were higher (i.e., vision less precise) than vestibular thresholds above 2 Hz. This shows that vestibular perception can be more precise than visual perception at physiologically relevant frequencies. We also found that sensory integration of visual and vestibular information is consistent with static Bayesian optimal integration of visual-vestibular cues. In contrast with most prior work that degraded or altered sensory cues, we demonstrated static optimal integration using natural cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Koeun Lim
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and
| | - Daniel M Merfeld
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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42
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Chaudhuri SE, Karmali F, Merfeld DM. Whole body motion-detection tasks can yield much lower thresholds than direction-recognition tasks: implications for the role of vibration. J Neurophysiol 2013; 110:2764-72. [PMID: 24068754 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00091.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier spatial orientation studies used both motion-detection (e.g., did I move?) and direction-recognition (e.g., did I move left/right?) paradigms. The purpose of our study was to compare thresholds measured with motion-detection and direction-recognition tasks on a standard Moog motion platform to see whether a substantial fraction of the reported threshold variation might be explained by the use of different discrimination tasks in the presence of vibrations that vary with motion. Thresholds for the perception of yaw rotation about an earth-vertical axis and for interaural translation in an earth-horizontal plane were determined for four healthy subjects with standard detection and recognition paradigms. For yaw rotation two-interval detection thresholds were, on average, 56 times smaller than two-interval recognition thresholds, and for interaural translation two-interval detection thresholds were, on average, 31 times smaller than two-interval recognition thresholds. This substantive difference between recognition thresholds and detection thresholds is one of our primary findings. For motions near our measured detection threshold, we measured vibrations that matched previously established vibration thresholds. This suggests that vibrations contribute to whole body motion detection. We also recorded yaw rotation thresholds on a second motion device with lower vibration and found direction-recognition and motion-detection thresholds that were not significantly different from one another or from the direction-recognition thresholds recorded on our Moog platform. Taken together, these various findings show that yaw rotation recognition thresholds are relatively unaffected by vibration when moderate (up to ≈ 0.08 m/s(2)) vibration cues are present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shomesh E Chaudhuri
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts; and
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43
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Lewis RF, Nicoucar K, Gong W, Haburcakova C, Merfeld DM. Adaptation of vestibular tone studied with electrical stimulation of semicircular canal afferents. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2013; 14:331-40. [PMID: 23423561 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-013-0376-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2012] [Accepted: 01/31/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Damage to one vestibular labyrinth or nerve causes a central tone imbalance, reflected by prominent spontaneous nystagmus. Central adaptive mechanisms eliminate the nystagmus over several days, and the mechanisms underlying this process have received extensive study. The characteristics of vestibular compensation when the tone imbalance is presented gradually or repeatedly have never been studied. We used high-frequency electrical stimulation of semicircular canal afferents to generate a vestibular tone imbalance and recorded the nystagmus produced when the stimulation was started abruptly or gradually and when it was repeatedly cycled on and off. In the acute-onset protocol, brisk nystagmus occurred when stimulation started, gradually resolved within 1 day, and reversed direction when the stimulation was stopped after 1 week. Repeated stimulation cycles resulted in progressively smaller nystagmus responses. In the slow-onset protocol, minimal nystagmus occurred while the stimulation ramped-up to its maximum rate over 12 h, but a reversal still occurred when the stimulation was stopped after 1 week, and repeated stimulation cycles did not affect this pattern. The absence of nystagmus during the 12 h ramp of stimulation demonstrates that central vestibular tone can rebalance relatively quickly, and the reduction in the stimulation-off nystagmus with repeated cycles of the acute-onset but not the slow-onset stimulation suggests that dual-state adaptation may have occurred with the former paradigm but not the latter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard F Lewis
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
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44
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Hartmann M, Furrer S, Herzog MH, Merfeld DM, Mast FW. Self-motion perception training: thresholds improve in the light but not in the dark. Exp Brain Res 2013; 226:231-40. [PMID: 23392475 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-013-3428-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2012] [Accepted: 01/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We investigated perceptual learning in self-motion perception. Blindfolded participants were displaced leftward or rightward by means of a motion platform and asked to indicate the direction of motion. A total of eleven participants underwent 3,360 practice trials, distributed over twelve (Experiment 1) or 6 days (Experiment 2). We found no improvement in motion discrimination in both experiments. These results are surprising since perceptual learning has been demonstrated for visual, auditory, and somatosensory discrimination. Improvements in the same task were found when visual input was provided (Experiment 3). The multisensory nature of vestibular information is discussed as a possible explanation of the absence of perceptual learning in darkness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Hartmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Muesmattstrasse 45, 3000 Bern, Switzerland.
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45
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Lim K, Merfeld DM. Erratum to: Signal detection theory and vestibular perception: II. Fitting perceptual thresholds as a function of frequency. Exp Brain Res 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3306-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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46
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Chaudhuri SE, Merfeld DM. Signal detection theory and vestibular perception: III. Estimating unbiased fit parameters for psychometric functions. Exp Brain Res 2012; 225:133-46. [PMID: 23250442 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3354-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2012] [Accepted: 11/17/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Psychophysics generally relies on estimating a subject's ability to perform a specific task as a function of an observed stimulus. For threshold studies, the fitted functions are called psychometric functions. While fitting psychometric functions to data acquired using adaptive sampling procedures (e.g., "staircase" procedures), investigators have encountered a bias in the spread ("slope" or "threshold") parameter that has been attributed to the serial dependency of the adaptive data. Using simulations, we confirm this bias for cumulative Gaussian parametric maximum likelihood fits on data collected via adaptive sampling procedures, and then present a bias-reduced maximum likelihood fit that substantially reduces the bias without reducing the precision of the spread parameter estimate and without reducing the accuracy or precision of the other fit parameters. As a separate topic, we explain how to implement this bias reduction technique using generalized linear model fits as well as other numeric maximum likelihood techniques such as the Nelder-Mead simplex. We then provide a comparison of the iterative bootstrap and observed information matrix techniques for estimating parameter fit variance from adaptive sampling procedure data sets. The iterative bootstrap technique is shown to be slightly more accurate; however, the observed information technique executes in a small fraction (0.005 %) of the time required by the iterative bootstrap technique, which is an advantage when a real-time estimate of parameter fit variance is required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shomesh E Chaudhuri
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
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Thompson LA, Haburcakova C, Gong W, Lee DJ, Wall C, Merfeld DM, Lewis RF. Responses evoked by a vestibular implant providing chronic stimulation. J Vestib Res 2012; 22:11-5. [PMID: 22699148 DOI: 10.3233/ves-2012-0442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Patients with bilateral vestibular loss experience dehabilitating visual, perceptual, and postural difficulties, and an implantable vestibular prosthesis that could improve these symptoms would be of great benefit to these patients. In previous work, we have shown that a one-dimensional, unilateral canal prosthesis can improve the vestibulooccular reflex (VOR) in canal-plugged squirrel monkeys. In addition to the VOR, the potential effects of a vestibular prosthesis on more complex, highly integrative behaviors, such as the perception of head orientation and posture have remained unclear. We tested a one-dimensional, unilateral prosthesis in a rhesus monkey with bilateral vestibular loss and found that chronic electrical stimulation partially restored the compensatory VOR and also that percepts of head orientation relative to gravity were improved. However, the one-dimensional prosthetic stimulation had no clear effect on postural stability during quiet stance, but sway evoked by head-turns was modestly reduced. These results suggest that not only can the implementation of a vestibular prosthesis provide partial restitution of VOR but may also improve perception and posture in the presence of bilateral vestibular hypofunction (BVH). In this review, we provide an overview of our previous and current work directed towards the eventual clinical implementation of an implantable vestibular prosthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara A Thompson
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA.
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48
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Karmali F, Merfeld DM. A distributed, dynamic, parallel computational model: the role of noise in velocity storage. J Neurophysiol 2012; 108:390-405. [PMID: 22514288 PMCID: PMC3404789 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00883.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [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: 09/28/2011] [Accepted: 04/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Networks of neurons perform complex calculations using distributed, parallel computation, including dynamic "real-time" calculations required for motion control. The brain must combine sensory signals to estimate the motion of body parts using imperfect information from noisy neurons. Models and experiments suggest that the brain sometimes optimally minimizes the influence of noise, although it remains unclear when and precisely how neurons perform such optimal computations. To investigate, we created a model of velocity storage based on a relatively new technique--"particle filtering"--that is both distributed and parallel. It extends existing observer and Kalman filter models of vestibular processing by simulating the observer model many times in parallel with noise added. During simulation, the variance of the particles defining the estimator state is used to compute the particle filter gain. We applied our model to estimate one-dimensional angular velocity during yaw rotation, which yielded estimates for the velocity storage time constant, afferent noise, and perceptual noise that matched experimental data. We also found that the velocity storage time constant was Bayesian optimal by comparing the estimate of our particle filter with the estimate of the Kalman filter, which is optimal. The particle filter demonstrated a reduced velocity storage time constant when afferent noise increased, which mimics what is known about aminoglycoside ablation of semicircular canal hair cells. This model helps bridge the gap between parallel distributed neural computation and systems-level behavioral responses like the vestibuloocular response and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal Karmali
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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49
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Abstract
Vestibular symptoms caused by migraine, referred to as vestibular migraine, are a frequently diagnosed but poorly understood entity. Based on recent evidence that normal subjects generate vestibular-mediated percepts of head motion and reflexive eye movements using different mechanisms, we hypothesized that percepts of head motion may be abnormal in vestibular migraine. We therefore measured motion detection thresholds in patients with vestibular migraine, migraine patients with no history of vestibular symptoms, and normal subjects using the following paradigms: roll rotation while supine (dynamically activating the semicircular canals); quasi-static roll tilt (statically activating the otolith organs); and dynamic roll tilt (dynamically activating the canals and otoliths). Thresholds were determined while patients were asymptomatic using a staircase paradigm, whereby the peak acceleration of the motion was decreased or increased based on correct or incorrect reports of movement direction. We found a dramatic reduction in motion thresholds in vestibular migraine compared to normal and migraine subjects in the dynamic roll tilt paradigm, but normal thresholds in the roll rotation and quasi-static roll tilt paradigms. These results suggest that patients with vestibular migraine may have enhanced perceptual sensitivity (e.g. increased signal-to-noise ratio) for head motions that dynamically modulate canal and otolith inputs together.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard F Lewis
- Department of Otology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA.
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50
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Lewis RF, Haburcakova C, Gong W, Lee D, Wall C, Thompson L, Merfeld DM. Vestibular prosthesis tested in rhesus monkeys. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2012; 2011:2277-9. [PMID: 22254795 DOI: 10.1109/iembs.2011.6090573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
We are studying the effectiveness of a semicircular canal prosthesis to improve postural control, perception of spatial orientation, and the VOR in rhesus monkeys with bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Balance is examined by measuring spontaneous sway of the body during quiet stance and postural responses evoked by head turns and rotation of the support surface; perception is measured with a task derived from the subjective visual vertical (SVV) test during static and dynamic rotation in the roll plane; and the angular VOR is measured during rotation about the roll, pitch, and yaw axes. After the normal responses are characterized, bilateral vestibular loss is induced with intratympanic gentamicin, and then multisite stimulating electrodes are chronically implanted into the ampullae of all three canals in one ear. The postural, perceptual, and VOR responses are then characterized in the ablated state, and then bilateral, chronic electrical stimulation is applied to the ampullary nerves using a prosthesis that senses angular head velocity in three-dimensions and uses this information to modulate the rate of current pulses provided by the implanted electrodes. We are currently characterizing two normal monkeys with these paradigms, and vestibular ablation and electrode implantation are planned for the near future. In one prior rhesus monkey tested with this approach, we found that a one-dimensional (posterior canal) prosthesis improved balance during head turns, perceived head orientation during roll tilts, and the VOR in the plane of the instrumented canal. We therefore predict that the more complete information provided by a three-dimensional prosthesis that modulates activity in bilaterally-paired canals will exceed the benefits provided by the one-dimensional, unilateral approach used in our preliminary studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard F Lewis
- Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Department of Otology and Laryngology at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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