Skip to main content

OPINION article

Front. Neurol., 22 October 2012
Sec. Neuro-Otology

What does galvanic vestibular stimulation actually activate: response

  • 1Departments of Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
  • 2Departments of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
  • 3Department of Anatomy/Functional Morphology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Curthoys and MacDougall (2012) question the conclusion that galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) predominantly activates the otolith system. They have demonstrated that strong (5 mA) GVS applied continuously to alert humans in darkness causes weak nystagmus, with average velocities of about 5°/s (MacDougall et al., 2002, 2003, 2005). This nystagmus undoubtedly originated from activation of the semicircular canals. They claim that this refutes our general conclusion that the predominant activation of the vestibular system during GVS is through the otolith system, a conclusion based on a wide range of studies in which GVS induced a sense of roll, ocular counter-torsion, postural sway, and body tilt but not nystagmus, vertigo, or a sense of rotation. The results were uniform across these diverse studies, although some were conducted in darkness or with the eyes closed. They also question conclusions based on an anatomic demonstration by Holstein et al. (2012) that c-fos activation was essentially located in otolith-driven, vestibulo-sympathetic neurons in the vestibular nuclei (Holstein et al., 2012). Curthoys has made many important contributions to elucidating semicircular canal and otolith anatomy and physiology, but we believe that he and MacDougall are not correct in this issue.

Important evidence for our conclusion derives from a compendium of studies by Macefield and colleagues showing that sinusoidal GVS is a potent stimulus for induction of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA); a reflection of otolith activation. In these studies, currents of 2 mA induced a sense of rolling but never rotation or vertigo (Bent et al., 2006; Grewal and James, 2009; James and Macefield, 2010; James et al., 2010; Hammam et al., 2011, 2012; Grewal et al., 2012). The sense of roll is consistent with a host of other studies using GVS (Fitzpatrick et al., 1994; Inglis et al., 1995; Day et al., 1997; Zink et al., 1997; Day and Cole, 2002; Scinicariello et al., 2002/2003; Wardman et al., 2003a,b; see Fitzpatrick and Day, 2004 for review). Modeled on this research, we used 2–3 mA currents in lightly anesthetized rats and found strong activation of the sympathetic nervous system and vasovagal responses, but not tonic deviations of the eyes (Cohen et al., 2011). We have also stimulated the vestibular nerve with trains of pulses to activate MSNA in humans (Voustianiouk et al., 2006), sometimes utilizing currents of 5 mA. MSNA was facilitated, but ocular deviations were never induced.

The semicircular canals can exert a powerful influence on eye movements through the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Head turns induce eye movements with velocities of up to 400°/s (Atkin and Bender, 1968), and with response characteristics up to 20 Hz (Grossman et al., 1988; Tabak and Collewijn, 1994; Armand and Minor, 2001). Furthermore, a change in body temperature of only 7°C during caloric stimulation with either air or water readily induces nystagmus with slow phase velocities of 30–40°/s in monkeys (Arai et al., 2002) and 10–20°/s in humans (M. Dai, personal communication). Thus, at best, the semicircular canal activation induced using strong GVS by Curthoys and MacDougall, which produced average slow phase eye velocities of 5°/s, was weak and functionally inconsequential.

The question of function is particularly relevant in this regard. The semicircular canals stabilize gaze in space during head movement through what is probably the fastest reflex in the body. That is, electrical stimulation of canal nerves can activate eye muscles in 1.5 ms, which would potentially allow for a frequency response of 600 Hz (Cohen and Suzuki, 1963). In actuality, eye muscles were driven at 400 Hz and prominent nystagmus with large beats and high velocity were induced by semicircular canal nerve stimulation (Cohen et al., 1965). The canals also activate neck muscles at short latencies to help stabilize the head in space (Denise et al., 1987; Xiang et al., 2008). On the other hand, the otolith organs, while having a small direct ocular response to sharp increases in linear acceleration of the head (Paige and Tomko, 1991), do not produce nystagmus and there is only weak ocular torsion of about 4° from vestibular nerve stimulation that orients the eyes to the spatial horizontal in frontal-eyed species, including humans. Thus, the otolith system appears not to be primarily directed toward controlling eye movements in humans, although one can get small rapid eye movements from rapid head movements (Curthoys, 2010). Rather, the otolith system appears to be more involved in orientation in space, in activation of the vestibulo-sympathetic reflex, and in stabilization of posture, none of which are functions of the semicircular canals.

Therefore we conclude that our previous reply to Dr. Colebatch and our original letter in which we stated that while there may be weak semicircular canal activation, the response to GVS is predominantly otolithic in function are correct, and we do not find the Curthoys and MacDougall argument sufficiently compelling to refute our conclusion.

References

Arai, Y., Yakushin, S. B., Cohen, B., Suzuki, J.-I., and Raphan, T. (2002). Spatial orientation of caloric nystagmus in semicircular canal-plugged monkeys. J. Neurophysiol. 88, 914–928.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

Armand, M., and Minor, L. B. (2001). Relationship between time- and frequency-domain analyses of angular head movements in the squirrel monkey. J. Comput. Neurosci. 11, 217–239.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Atkin, A., and Bender, M. B. (1968). Ocular stabilization during oscillatory head movements. Arch. Neurol. 19, 559–566.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Bent, L. R., Bolton, P. S., and Macefield, V. G. (2006). Modulation of muscle sympathetic bursts by sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation in human subjects. Exp. Brain Res. 174, 701–711.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Cohen, B., Martinelli, G. P., Ogorodnikov, D., Xiang, Y., Raphan, T., Holstein, G. R., et al. (2011). Sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation (sGVS) induces a vasovagal response in the rat. Exp. Brain Res. 210, 45–55.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Cohen, B., Suzuki, J., and Bender, M. B. (1965). Nystagmus induced by electric stimulation of ampullary nerves. Acta Otolaryngol. 60, 422–436.

CrossRef Full Text

Cohen, B., and Suzuki, J. I. (1963). Eye movement induced by ampullary nerve stimulation. Am. J. Physiol. 204, 347–351.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

Curthoys, I. S. (2010). A critical review of the neurophysiological evidence underlying clinical vestibular testing using sound, vibration and galvanic stimuli. Clin. Neurophysiol. 121, 132–144.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Curthoys, I. S., and MacDougall, H. G. (2012). What galvanic vestibular stimulation actually activates. Front. Neurol. 3, 117. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2012.00117

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Day, B. L., and Cole, J. (2002). Vestibular-evoked postural responses in the absence of somatosensory information. Brain 125(Pt 9), 2081–2088.

Day, B. L., Séverac Cauquil, A., Bartolomei, L., Pastor, M. A., and Lyon, I. N. (1997). Human body-segment tilts induced by galvanic stimulation: a vestibularly driven balance protection mechanism. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 500(Pt 3), 661–672.

Denise, P., Darlot, C., Wilson, V. J., and Berthoz, A. (1987). Modulation by eye position of neck muscle contraction evoked by electrical labyrinthine stimulation in the alert cat. Exp. Brain Res. 67, 411–419.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Fitzpatrick, R., Burke, D., and Gandevia, S. C. (1994). Task-dependent reflex responses and movement illusions evoked by galvanic vestibular stimulation in standing humans. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 478(Pt 2), 363–372.

Fitzpatrick, R. C., and Day, B. L. (2004). Probing the human vestibular system with galvanic stimulation. J. Appl. Physiol. 96, 2301–2316.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Grewal, T., Dawood, T., Hammam, E., Kwok, K., and Macefield, V. G. (2012). Low-frequency physiological activation of the vestibular utricle causes biphasic modulation of skin sympathetic nerve activity in humans. Exp. Brain Res. 220, 101–108.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Grewal, T., and James, C. (2009). Frequency-dependent modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity by sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation in human subjects. Exp. Brain Res. 197, 379–386.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Grossman, G. E., Leigh, R. J., Abel, L. A., Lanska, D. J., and Thurston, S. E. (1988). Frequency and velocity of rotational head perturbations during locomotion. Exp. Brain Res. 70, 470–476.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Hammam, E., Dawood, T., and Macefield, V. G. (2012). Low-frequency galvanic vestibular stimulation evokes two peaks of modulation in skin sympathetic nerve activity. Exp. Brain Res. 219, 441–446.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Hammam, E., James, C., Dawood, T., and Macefield, V. G. (2011). Low-frequency sinusoidal galvanic stimulation of the left and right vestibular nerves reveals two peaks of modulation in muscle sympathetic nerve activity. Exp. Brain Res. 213, 507–514.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Holstein, G. R., Friedrich, V. L. J., Martinelli, G. P., Ogorodnikov, D., Yakushin, S. B., and Cohen, B. (2012). Fos expression in neurons of the rat vestibulo-autonomic pathway activated by sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation. Front. Neurol. 3:4. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2012.00004

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Inglis, J. T., Shupert, C. L., Hlavacka, F., and Horak, F. B. (1995). Effect of galvanic vestibular stimulation on human postural responses during support surface translations. J. Neurophysiol. 73, 896–901.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

James, C., and Macefield, V. G. (2010). Competitive interactions between vestibular and cardiac rhythms in the modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity. Auton. Neurosci. 158, 127–131.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

James, C., Stathis, A., and Macefield, V. G. (2010). Vestibular and pulse-related modulation of skin sympathetic nerve activity during sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation in human subjects. Exp. Brain Res. 202, 291–298.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

MacDougall, H. G., Brizuela, A. E., Burgess, A. M., and Curthoys, I. S. (2002). Between-subject variability and within-subject reliability of the human eye-movement response to bilateral galvanic (DC) vestibular stimulation. Exp. Brain Res. 144, 69–78.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

MacDougall, H. G., Brizuela, A. E., Burgess, A. M., Curthoys, I. S., and Halmagyi, G. M. (2005). Patient and normal three-dimensional eye-movement responses to maintained (DC) surface galvanic vestibular stimulation. Otol. Neurotol. 26, 500–511.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

MacDougall, H. G., Brizuela, A. E., and Curthoys, I. S. (2003). Linearity, symmetry and additivity of the human eye-movement response to maintained unilateral and bilateral surface galvanic (DC) vestibular stimulation. Exp. Brain Res. 148, 166–175.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

Paige, G. D., and Tomko, D. L. (1991). Eye movement responses to linear head motion in the squirrel monkey. I. Basic characteristics. J. Neurophysiol. 65, 1170–1182.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

Scinicariello, A. P., Inglis, J. T., and Collins, J. J. (2002/2003). The effects of stochastic monopolar galvanic vestibular stimulation on human postural sway. J. Vestib. Res. 12, 77–85.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text

Tabak, S., and Collewijn, H. (1994). Human vestibulo-ocular responses to rapid, helmet-driven head movements. Exp. Brain Res. 102, 367–378.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Voustianiouk, A., Kaufmann, H., Diedrich, A., Raphan, T., Biaggioni, I., MacDougall, H., et al. (2006). Electrical activation of the human vestibulo-sympathetic reflex. Exp. Brain Res. 171, 251–261.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Wardman, D. L., Day, B. L., and Fitzpatrick, R. C. (2003a). Position and velocity responses to galvanic vestibular stimulation in human subjects during standing. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 547(Pt 1), 293–299.

CrossRef Full Text

Wardman, D. L., Taylor, J. L., and Fitzpatrick, R. C. (2003b). Effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on human posture and perception while standing. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 551(Pt 3), 1033–1042.

CrossRef Full Text

Xiang, Y., Yakushin, S. B., Kunin, M., Raphan, T., and Cohen, B. (2008). Head stabilization by vestibulocollic reflexes during quadrupedal locomotion in monkey. J. Neurophysiol. 100, 763–780.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Zink, R., Steddin, S., Weiss, A., Brandt, T., and Dieterich, M. (1997). Galvanic vestibular stimulation in humans: effects on otolith function in roll. Neurosci. Lett. 232, 171–174.

Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text

Citation: Cohen B, Yakushin SB and Holstein GR (2012) What does galvanic vestibular stimulation actually activate: response. Front. Neur. 3:148. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2012.00148

Received: 13 September 2012; Accepted: 01 October 2012;
Published online: 22 October 2012.

Edited by:

Sergio Carmona, Instituto de Neurociencias de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Reviewed by:

Sergio Carmona, Instituto de Neurociencias de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Copyright: © 2012 Cohen, Yakushin and Holstein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.

*Correspondence: bernard.cohen@mssm.edu

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.