Losing Vestibular Function
- Damage from drugs, diseases, etc. can cause loss of function in the vestibular apparatus (balance organ) in one or both ears.
- Without a functioning vestibular system, the world would feel unsteady during head movements.
Cerebellar Adaptation
- The cerebellum can surprisingly adapt to vestibular loss.
- If one vestibular apparatus is lost, the cerebellum recalibrates the VOR to rely solely on the healthy ear.
- With complete vestibular loss, the cerebellum uses other sensory inputs:
- Visual input (becomes most important)
- Somatosensory input (mainly from the neck)
The Recovery Process
- Losing vestibular function requires the cerebellum to relearn how to stabilize gaze.
- This process takes about a week.
- Vision plays a crucial role in regaining stability after vestibular loss.
- Even with vision loss, the somatosensory system can provide some limited ability to compensate, although it’s less effective and slower.
Key Takeaway
- The cerebellum’s ability to adjust the VOR gain allows us to recover from significant damage to the vestibular system, even complete loss.