Navigation in space requires the brain to combine information arising from different sensory modalities with the appropriate motor commands. Sensory information about self-motion in particular is provided by the visual and the vestibular system. The macaque ventral intraparietal area (VIP) has recently been shown to be involved in the processing of self-motion information provided by optical fl...

Spatial origin is an important cue for humans to determine whether auditory and tactile signals originate from the same event/object or not. This paper addresses spatial factors involved in the integration of auditory and tactile information. Perceptual threshold values for auditory-tactile spatial origin disparity were measured using tactile information and sound such as those generated by tou...

[Purpose] The effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in the rehabilitation of swallowing remains controversial. This study compared the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation, a traditional swallowing recovery treatment, in patients with sub-acute dysphagia caused by stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Subjects of the present study w...

Balance requires the integration of proprioceptive, visual, and vestibular sensory inputs. Contributions from the vestibular system are increasingly important when other sensory signals are lacking or erroneous [1]. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), the application of a small electrical current across the mastoid processes, has been used to apply a stimulus to the vestibular system indepen...

Perception of the visual vertical is strongly based on our ability to match visual inflow with vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile, and even visceral information that contributes to maintaining an internal representation of the vertical. An important cortical region implicated in multisensory integration is the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), which also is involved in higher order forms ...

Use of virtual reality (VR) technology is often accompanied by a series of unwanted symptoms, including nausea and headache, which are characterised as 'simulator sickness'. Sensory mismatch has been thought to lie at the heart of the problem and recent studies have shown that reducing cue mismatch in VR can have a therapeutic effect. Specifically, electrical stimulation of vestibular afferent ...

Neonatal rats learn to approach odors associated with stimulation normally provided by their mother. The present report describes changes in olfactory bulb single-unit activity following olfactory learning in young rats. Rat pups were exposed from postnatal day 1 to 18 to either (1) peppermint-scented air while receiving tactile stimulation (Pepp-Stroked), (2) peppermint-scented air with no tac...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on event-related potentials. [Subjects and Methods] Forty normal female adult subjects were randomly distributed to a galvanic vestibular stimulation application group (20 subjects) and sham group (20 subjects). For galvanic vestibular stimulation application, a positive electrode was applied to th...

[Purpose] This study examined the effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on motion-related cortical potential. [Subjects and Methods] Fourty healthy female adult subjects each received galvanic vestibular stimulation or sham treatment. For galvanic vestibular stimulation, the anode and cathode were applied to the right and left mastoid processes, respectively, for 10 minutes. Motion-related...

Electrophysiological studies were performed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the antivertigo action of eperisone, an antispastic drug, using cats anesthetized with alpha-chloralose. Iontophoretic application of eperisone up to 100 nA produced a dose-dependent inhibition of spike generation upon vestibular nerve stimulation in monosynaptic and polysynaptic neurons of the medial vestibular n...