Experimental validation of a clinical indicator of utricular function.

椭圆囊功能临床指标的实验验证。

• 批准号: nhmrc : 107220
• 负责人: E/Pr Ian Curthoys
• 金额: $ 13.25万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2000-01-01 至 2002-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/experimental-validation-clinical-utricular-function/76760
• 关键词: Experimental; validation; clinical; indicator; utricular

The vestibular system is responsible for our sense of balance, it is located in the inner ear and is responsible for maintaining posture and helping an organism to make appropriate eye movements when the head moves. Damage to the vestibular system by disease or accident is extremely debilitating for a patient. A chief goal of our research program is to develop simple tests of the vestibular system that can be used in the clinic to diagnose vestibular disorders. Most present clinical tests only test the part of the vestibular system that responds to angular rotations (the semicircular canals). There are few good tests that can reliably diagnose problems concerned with sensed position (the otoliths). Recent evidence from human studies has shown that by delivering small electrical currents (galvanic stimulation) via electrodes located on the surface of the skin behind the ears, a characteristic pattern of eye movement occurs. Our hypothesis is that the distinctive pattern of eye movement produced is a result of otolith stimulation. The aim of this project is to determine exactly how these small currents produce the eye movements and if these eye movements are in fact mediated by the otoliths. To determine the physiology that underlies these types of responses we are unable to conduct these experiments in humans. Our present program will therefore use both behavioural and physiological experiments on guinea pigs to test our hypotheses about galvanic stimulation and otolith function. The significance of this work lies in that it will lead to a new way of evaluating the function of the gravity sensing part of the human vestibular system which appear to be uniquely important for patients with balance problems.

前庭系统负责我们的平衡感，它位于内耳，负责保持姿势，并帮助有机体在头部移动时进行适当的眼球运动。疾病或意外对前庭系统的损害对患者来说是极其虚弱的。我们研究计划的一个主要目标是开发前庭系统的简单测试，可用于临床诊断前庭疾病。目前的大多数临床测试只测试前庭系统对角度旋转做出反应的部分(半规管)。很少有好的测试可以可靠地诊断与感知位置(耳石)有关的问题。最近来自人类研究的证据表明，通过位于耳朵后面皮肤表面的电极传递小电流(电流刺激)，就会出现一种特有的眼球运动模式。我们的假设是，眼球运动的独特模式是耳石刺激的结果。这个项目的目的是确切地确定这些小电流是如何产生眼球运动的，以及这些眼球运动是否实际上是由耳石调节的。为了确定这些类型的反应背后的生理学，我们无法在人体上进行这些实验。因此，我们目前的计划将使用在豚鼠身上的行为和生理实验来检验我们关于电流刺激和耳石功能的假设。这项工作的意义在于，它将导致一种新的方法来评估人类前庭系统的重力感应部分的功能，这似乎是唯一重要的平衡问题患者。