Affiliations: Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich,
Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Marianne Dieterich, MD,
Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich,
Marchioninistrasse 15, D-81377 München, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 7095 2570;
Fax: +49 89 7095 8883; E-mail: Marianne.Dieterich@ med.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract: In this article we will discuss our current knowledge of
multisensory vestibular structures and their functions in the human cortex.
Most of it derives from brain activation studies with PET and fMRI in humans
conducted over the last decade. They have confirmed the existence of several
separate and distinct cortical areas that were identified earlier by tracer and
electrophysiological studies in animals, especially in monkeys. The patterns of
activations and deactivations during vestibular stimulations in healthy
subjects have been compared with those in patients with acute and chronic
peripheral and central vestibular disorders. The following reviews what is
presently known about the interconnections of vestibular structures, their
activations and interactions with other sensory modalities, the correlations of
perceptual and motor functions in normal humans, and the changes that result
from strategic unilateral peripheral and central vestibular lesions such as
vestibular neuritis and bilateral vestibular failure, on the one hand, and
central vestibular nucleus lesions due to ischemic infarctions of the lateral
medulla (Wallenberg's syndrome), on the other.
