Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Int J Mol Sci 2021 Apr 18;22(8). Epub 2021 Apr 18.

Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.

We review the molecular basis of several transcription factors (, ), including the three related genes coding basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH; see abbreviations) proteins (, , ) during the development of spiral ganglia, cochlear nuclei, and cochlear hair cells. Neuronal development requires followed by its downstream target , to cross-regulate expression. In contrast, hair cells and cochlear nuclei critically depend on and require expression for interactions with . Read More

Front Neurol 2021 7;12:663722. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Western University, London, ON, Canada.

Reports vary on the incidence of vestibular dysfunction and dizziness in patients following cochlear implantation (CI). Disequilibrium may be caused by surgery at the cochlear base, leading to functional disturbances of the vestibular receptors and endolymphatic duct system (EDS) which are located nearby. Here, we analyzed the three-dimensional (3D) anatomy of this region, aiming to optimize surgical approaches to limit damage to the vestibular organ. Read More

World Neurosurg 2021 Apr 21;151:39-43. Epub 2021 Apr 21.

Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy. Electronic address:

Nearly 250 years ago, Antonio Scarpa became a professor of anatomy and surgery only 2 years after he graduated from the University of Padua. The young lecturer soon became one of the most renowned anatomists in Italy and a director of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Pavia. He worked in the fields of general surgery and ophthalmology. Read More

J Biomech 2021 May 9;121:110418. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.

Running inevitably causes the animal trunk to undulate. The consequential head rotations have to be stabilised in space for a steady gaze and an accurate sense of self-motion for balance. The ecology and anatomy of the species determine the necessity to stabilise the head in yaw, pitch, and roll direction. Read More

Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021 1;9:635661. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Institute of Biomedical and Neural Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavík, Iceland.

Motion sickness (MS) and postural control (PC) conditions are common complaints among those who passively travel. Many theories explaining a probable cause for MS have been proposed but the most prominent is the sensory conflict theory, stating that a mismatch between vestibular and visual signals causes MS. Few measurements have been made to understand and quantify the interplay between muscle activation, brain activity, and heart behavior during this condition. Read More

Work 2021 ;68(2):415-423

Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.

Background: It has been found that intense noise may affect the peripheral vestibular system and consequently causes problems in balance mechanisms.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exposure to chronic noise on vestibular functions and balance in Edirne Band musicians.

Methods: Twenty-two individuals working in the Edirne Band for at least 5 years and a control group of 22 individuals working at Trakya University with similar sociodemographic characteristics were included. Read More

Hear Res 2021 Apr 9;403:108173. Epub 2021 Jan 9.

Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Biomedical Sciences and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Brain Research New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, New Zealand; Eisdell Moore Centre for Hearing and Balance Research, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address:

It has become well established that vestibular information is important for hippocampal function and spatial memory. However, as yet, relatively little is known about how different kinds of vestibular information are 'represented' in different parts of the hippocampus. This study used selective electrical stimulation of each of the 5 vestibular sensors (the horizontal (HC), anterior (AC) and posterior (PC) semi-circular canals, and the utricle and saccule) in the rat and recorded local field potentials (LFPs) across the hippocampus, using a 16 electrode microarray. Read More

Viruses 2021 Jan 6;13(1). Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada.

Hearing loss, one of the most prevalent chronic health conditions, affects around half a billion people worldwide, including 34 million children. The World Health Organization estimates that the prevalence of disabling hearing loss will increase to over 900 million people by 2050. Many cases of congenital hearing loss are triggered by viral infections during different stages of pregnancy. Read More

Hear Res 2021 Mar 27;401:108159. Epub 2020 Dec 27.

Department of Otology and Skull Base Surgery, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200031, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Hearing Medicine (Fudan University), Shanghai 200031, China. Electronic address:

Vestibular nuclei complex (VN) glutamatergic neurons play a critical role in the multisensory and multimodal processing. The dysfunction of VN leads to a series of vestibular concurrent symptoms, such as disequilibrium, spatial disorientation, autonomic disorders and even emotion disorders. However, the reciprocal neural connectivity in the whole brain of VN glutamatergic neurons was incompletely understood. Read More

Front Neurol 2020 25;11:593919. Epub 2020 Nov 25.

Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States.

Despite our understanding of the impact of noise-induced damage to the auditory system, much less is known about the impact of noise exposure on the vestibular system. In this article, we review the anatomical, physiological, and functional evidence for noise-induced damage to peripheral and central vestibular structures. Morphological studies in several animal models have demonstrated cellular damage throughout the peripheral vestibular system and particularly in the otolith organs; however, there is a paucity of data on the effect of noise exposure on human vestibular end organs. Read More

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2020 Dec 15. Epub 2020 Dec 15.

Department of Medicine in Physiotherapy, Faculty of Therapeutic Sciences, Maria-Probst-Str. 3, 69123, Heidelberg, Germany.

Purpose: It is still in question whether head oscillation damping during walking forms a part of the vestibular function. The anatomical pathway from the vestibular system to the neck muscles via the medial vestibulospinal tract (MVST) is well known but there is a lack of knowledge of the exact influence and modulation of each other in daily life activities.

Methods: (I) We fixed a head-neck unit of a human cadaver specimen in a steal frame to determine the required pitch-torque for a horizontal head position. Read More

Neuroscience 2021 01 24;452:247-264. Epub 2020 Nov 24.

Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address:

The inner ear, projections, and brainstem nuclei are essential components of the auditory and vestibular systems. It is believed that the evolution of complex systems depends on duplicated sets of genes. The contribution of duplicated genes to auditory or vestibular system development, however, is poorly understood. Read More

J Exp Biol 2020 11 9;223(Pt 21). Epub 2020 Nov 9.

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus Vienna Biocenter 1, Vienna 1030, Austria

Magnetoreception is the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field, which is used for orientation and navigation. Behavioural experiments have shown that it is employed by many species across all vertebrate classes; however, our understanding of how magnetic information is processed and integrated within the central nervous system is limited. In this Commentary, we review the progress in birds and rodents, highlighting the role of the vestibular and trigeminal systems as well as that of the hippocampus. Read More

Clin Anat 2021 Mar 12;34(2):244-262. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St George's University, Grenada, West Indies.

Iatrogenic nerve injury during surgery is a major source of concern for both patients and surgeons. This study aimed to identify the nerves most commonly injured during surgery, along with the commonly associated operative procedures. A literature search was conducted using the PubMed database to identify nerves commonly injured during surgery, along with the surgical procedure associated with the injury. Read More

J Postgrad Med 2020 Oct-Dec;66(4):212-214

Department of Neurology, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India.

Infarcts involving the thalamus can yield many deficits, including sensory syndromes, altered consciousness, and cognitive disturbances, depending on the thalamic vascular territory involved. Isolated truncal contrapulsion due to pure thalamic infarct has been rarely reported. Truncal lateropulsion is a compelling sensation of being pulled toward one side that cannot be explained by weakness or limb ataxia. Read More

Ideggyogy Sz 2020 Sep;73(9-10):354-360

Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgery, University of Szeged, Szeged.

Background And Purpose: Although vertigo is one of the most common complaints, intracranial malignant tumors rarely cause sudden asymmetry between the tone of the vestibular peripheries masquerading as a peripheral-like disorder. Here we report a case of simultaneous temporal bone infiltrating macro-metastasis and disseminated multi-organ micro-metastases presenting as acute unilateral vestibular syndrome, due to the reawakening of a primary gastric signet ring cell carcinoma. Purpose - Our objective was to identify those pathophysiological steps that may explain the complex process of tumor reawakening, dissemination. Read More

J Morphol 2020 12 3;281(12):1598-1606. Epub 2020 Oct 3.

Department of Invertebrates, Scientific Collaborator, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.

The morphology of ctenostome bryozoans remains little investigated with only few species having been subject to more detailed studies. From all the seven main different superfamilies, only few representatives have been studied. The superfamily Arachnidioidea has particularly been neglected concerning detailed morphological and histological details. Read More

Laryngoscope 2021 04 2;131(4):E1328-E1334. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

Objective: To explore the relationship between tumor size and facial nerve outcomes following vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection.

Study Design: Single institutional retrospective chart review of all adult patients with untreated sporadic VS who underwent surgical resection from 2008 to 2018 with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 1 year of follow-up. The primary outcome measure was facial nerve outcome as assessed by the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system. Read More

Otol Neurotol 2020 12;41(10):1423-1426

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Objective: To define a complication of the translabyrinthine surgical approach to the posterior fossa related to a rare variant of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) that penetrated into the petrous temporal bone.

Patient: A healthy 59-year-old male with a unilateral sporadic vestibular schwannoma.

Intervention: The patient elected to undergo a translabyrinthine approach for resection of a vestibular schwannoma. Read More

Plast Reconstr Surg 2020 09;146(3):283e-291e

From the Division of Plastic Surgery, Division of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; the Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia Health System; and the Department of Pathology and the Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Background: As rhinoplasty techniques have evolved to more extensive dissections, the incidence of iatrogenic deformities, such as alar rim retraction, has risen. Its mechanism is presently unknown. This study examined the microscopic anatomy of the nasal ala to define architectural support elements at the histologic level to determine why rhinoplasty dissection creates such deformities. Read More

Hear Res 2020 09 8;395:108019. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Virginial Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address:

Hearing and balance deficits have been reported during and following treatment with the antimalarial drug chloroquine. However, experimental work examining the direct actions of chloroquine on mechanoreceptive hair cells in common experimental models is lacking. This study examines the effects of chloroquine on hair cells using two common experimental models: the zebrafish lateral line and neonatal mouse cochlear cultures. Read More

Intern Med 2020 Dec 4;59(23):3067-3069. Epub 2020 Aug 4.

Department of Neurology, Kameda Medical Center, Japan.

Rotatory vertigo is known to have not only peripheral causes, e.g., Meniere's disease, vestibular neuritis, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, but also central causes, e. Read More

Life Sci 2020 Oct 2;259:118144. Epub 2020 Aug 2.

Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 227 Yanta West Roud, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, China. Electronic address:

Aims: Although the vestibular system has been widely investigated over the past 50 years, there is still an unsolved mystery. Some special vestibular afferent (SVA) neurons responding to both rotation and linear force were found through neurophysiological techniques, however, the sensory overlap mechanism of SVA neurons is still unclear, which may be closely related to vestibular-related diseases.

Materials And Methods: To address the above-mentioned problem, a cupula buoyancy theory was established in the present study, where SVA neurons were considered semicircular canal afferent (SCCA) neurons. Read More

Laryngoscope 2021 03 4;131(3):E966-E969. Epub 2020 Aug 4.

Neurology Department, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.

A 63-year-old man presented with imbalance when coughing due to a respiratory tract infection. He had a history of multiple myeloma with a plasmacytoma of the left temporal bone. Examination revealed a positive leftward head impulse test, no spontaneous nystagmus, left-beating positional nystagmus, and left-beating Valsalva-induced nystagmus. Read More

J Chem Neuroanat 2020 11 24;109:101851. Epub 2020 Jul 24.

School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address:

In the current study, we use tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry to detail the nuclear parcellation and cellular morphology of neurons belonging to the catecholaminergic system in the brain of the Nile crocodile. In general, our results are similar to that found in another crocodilian (the spectacled caiman) and indeed other vertebrates, but certain differences of both evolutionary and functional significance were noted. TH immunopositive (TH+) neurons forming distinct nuclei were observed in the olfactory bulb (A16), hypothalamus (A11, A13-15), midbrain (A8-A10), pons (A5-A7) and medulla oblongata (area postrema, C1, C2, A1, A2), encompassing the more commonly observed nuclear complexes of this system across vertebrates. Read More

Vet Radiol Ultrasound 2020 Sep 14;61(5):540-544. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.

Idiopathic vestibular syndrome (IVS) is the most common cause of acute unilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction in older dogs. The purpose of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to characterize morphological changes in the utricle of dogs affected by IVS, using MRI. To evaluate differences between affected and unaffected utricles, the ratio of the largest to the smallest utricle diameter was obtained, as measured on transverse T2-weighted images, and defined as the utricle asymmetricity ratio (UAR). Read More

Dtsch Arztebl Int 2020 May;117(20):354-360

Neurofibromatosis Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Helios Hospital Erfurt

Background: Neurofibromatosis of types 1 and 2 (NF1, NF2) and schwannomatosis are the diseases that make up the neurofibromatosis spectrum. With respective incidences of 1 in 3000, 1 in 33 000, and 1 in 60 000 births, they form part of the group of rare tumor-suppressor syndromes. They give rise to a greater tumor burden for the nervous system than any other type of neoplastic disease. Read More

Neuroimage 2020 10 17;220:117059. Epub 2020 Jun 17.

Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Neurology Department, Emergency University Hospital Bucharest, 169 Splaiul Independentei Street, Bucharest, Romania; Neurology Department, Medical Faculty, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, 8 Eroii Sanitari Boulevard 8, Bucharest, Romania; Brain Research Group, Romanian Academy, 125 Calea Victoriei Street, Bucharest, Romania. Electronic address:

The cingulate cortex is part of the limbic system. Its function and connectivity are organized in a rostro-caudal and ventral-dorsal manner which was addressed by various other studies using rather coarse cortical parcellations. In this study, we aim at describing its function and connectivity using invasive recordings from patients explored for focal drug-resistant epilepsy. Read More

Am J Otolaryngol 2020 Sep - Oct;41(5):102579. Epub 2020 Jun 2.

Department of Dermatology, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of isotretinoin (ISO) on peripheral vestibular system using vHIT.

Material And Method: This is a prospective study in which 30 patients administered ISO treatment with the diagnosis of acne vulgaris was evaluated. Following ear nose and throat, examination, audiological and vestibular evaluations were carried out. Read More

J Neurol 2020 Dec 11;267(Suppl 1):91-103. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.

Strong static magnetic fields, as used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), stimulate the vestibular inner ear leading to a state of imbalance within the vestibular system that causes nystagmus. This magnetic vestibular stimulation (MVS) also modulates fluctuations of resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) networks. MVS can be explained by a Lorentz force model, indicating that MVS is the result of the interaction of the static magnetic field strength and direction (called "B0 magnetic field" in MRI) with the inner ear's continuous endolymphatic ionic current. Read More