Influence of Vestibular Disorders on Tilt Perception and Short Term Memory

Introduction: Spatial orientation refers to the fact that the brain integratively recognizes its own position, posture and motion in space through several sensory systems. Vestibular, visual and somatosensory inputs with various motion are constantly integrated in central nervous system to determine the spatial orientation. Among the various parameters of spatial orientation, there has been no study about tilt perception and the memory of tilt perception. Methods: The following subjects participated in these experiments; normal volunteers under 65 years of age (Control group) and bilateral no response to the Caloric test (Bilateral group). Procedure was measurement of the short term memory of tilt perception that were reproduction of 0°and reproduction of right by 5°and left by 5°with improved electric goniometer. Results: Control group: There were no significant differences in the time course, or right and left direction of tilt for any of the age groups. Bilateral group: There were no significant differences in any of the tasks in the procedures between the control group and the bilateral group. Conclusion: Although tilt perception is formed from the vestibular and somatosensory input, it became clear that the vestibular are less important than the somatosensory input, because the bilateral group could also successfully remember tilt positions. It also is clear that such information is remembered for at least a short period of time.