Highlights
- •The description of the vestibulospinal pathways is old, but much remains to be investigated.
- •There are many tests that evaluate the vestibulospinal pathways, but few have been evaluated from the perspective of evidence-based medicine.
- •Vestibular-spinal signs can be a useful tool in the diagnosis of vestibular disorders.
Abstract
The vestibulospinal pathway was described many years ago. Along with it, the vestibulospinal
signs that are used for the diagnosis of vestibular disorders were described. In this
work we summarize the history of the vestibulospinal pathway, the classic signs and
the new signs that can be used in the diagnosis of vestibular disorders, paying special
attention to truncal ataxia as a useful element to differentiate central from peripheral
pathology.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Neurological SciencesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Carmona S. Kattah J. Manejo del Síndrome Vestibular Agudo. Buenos Aires, Akadia2017
- The neurologic examination.7th ed. Wolters Kluver, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia2013
- Sporadic ataxia with adult onset: classification and diagnostic criteria.Lancet Neurol. 2010; 9: 94-104https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70305-9
- Neuro-otología.3rd ed. Akadia, Buenos Aires2018
- Physiology of central pathways.Handb. Clin. Neurol. 2016; 137 (PMID: 27638060): 17-40https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63437-5.00002–9
- Descending influences on Vestibulospinal and Vestibulosympathetic reflexes.Front. Neurol. 27 Mar. 2017; 8https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2017.00112
- Una Historia Heterodoxa de la investigación Vestibular.1° edición. Editorial GAES, 2010
- Studies of cristospinal reflexes (laterotorsion) I, a method for objective recording of cristospinal reflex.Acta Oto-laryng. (Stockholm). 1962; 55: 33
- “Cervico-Ocular- Reflex in central and peripheral syndromes”. Chapter 76.in: Reisin R.C. Nuwer M.R. Hallet M. Medina C. Advances in Clinical Neurophysiology. Supplements to Clinical Neurophysiology. Vol. 54. The Castlefield Press. Elsevier, 2001
- The specificity and sensitivity of uninhibited COR inlabyrinthine-defective patients.Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2005; 1039: 508-512
- Galvanic vestibular stimulation improves the results of vestibular rehabilitation.Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2011; 1233: E1-E7https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06269
- Electrical analysis of the Romberg test.Acta Oto-Laryngol. (Stockh) Suppl. 1967; 224: 272
- Vestibular, spinal and postural patterns.Ciba Found. Symp. 1967; : 231-237
- Desarrollo de la cráneo-corpografía a partir de la prueba de Unterberger.Acta Otorrinolaringol. Esp. 1974; 26: 139-146
- Role of the cerebellum and vestibular apparatus in regulation of orthostatic reflexes in the cat.Circ. Res. 1974; 34: 9-18https://doi.org/10.1161/01.RES.34.1.9
- Asymmetries in vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in chronic stroke survivors with spastic hypertonia: evidence for a vestibulospinal role.Clin. Neurophysiol. 2014; 125: 2070-2078https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2014.01.035
- Balance control mediated by vestibular circuits directing limb extension or antagonist muscle co-activation.Cell Rep. 2018 Jan 30; 22 (PMID: 29386118): 1325-1338https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.01.009
- Les symptomes des maladies du cervelet et leur signification. Congrès de Londres, August 1913.1913
- Scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia: development of a new clinical scale.Neurology. 2006 Jun 13; 66 (Erratum in: Neurology. 2006 Jul 25;67(2):299. Fancellu, Roberto [added]. PMID: 16769946): 1717-1720https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000219042.60538.92
- Neurología fundamental.in: Fisiopatología. semiología, síndromes, exploración. 2° edición. Ediciones Toray, 1968
- History of Neuroscience: Joseph Babinski (1857–1932), IBRO History of Neuroscience.
- Cerebellar infarction presenting isolated vertigo. Frequency and vascular topographical patterns.Neurology. 2006; 67: 1178-1183https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000238500.02302.b4
- HINTS to diagnose stroke in the acute vestibular syndrome: three-step bedside oculomotor examination more sensitive than early MRI diffusion-weighted imaging.Stroke. 2009; 40: 3504-3510https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.551234
- The diagnostic accuracy of truncal Ataxia and HINTS as cardinal signs for acute vestibular syndrome.Front. Neurol. 2016 Aug 8; (PMID: 27551274; PMCID: PMC4976483): 125https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2016.00125
- STANDING, a four-step bedside algorithm for differential diagnosis of acute vertigo in the Emergency Department.Acta Otorhinolaryngol. Ital. 2014 Dec; 34 (PMID: 25762835; PMCID: PMC4346998): 419-426
- Differential diagnosis of Vertigo in the emergency department: a prospective validation study of the STANDING algorithm.Front. Neurol. 2017 Nov 7; 8 (PMID: 29163350; PMCID: PMC5682038): 590https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2017.00590
- Central projections of portions of the vestibular ganglia innervating specific parts of the labyrinth in the rhesus monkey.Am. J. Anat. 1967; 120: 281-317https://doi.org/10.1002/aja.1001200205
- Electrophysiological analysis of the vestibulospinal reflex pathway of rabbit. I. Classification of tract cells.Exp. Brain Res. 1973; 17: 477-496https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234863
- Topography of cerebellar deficits in humans.Cerebellum. 2012 Jun; 11 (PMID: 21240580): 336-351https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-011-0247-4
- Consensus paper: revisiting the symptoms and signs of cerebellar syndrome.Cerebellum. 2016 Jun; 15 (PMID: 26105056; PMCID: PMC5565264): 369-391https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-015-0687-3
- Cerebellum and prematurity: a complex interplay between disruptive and Dysmaturational events.Front. Syst. Neurosci. 2021 Jun 10; 15 (PMID: 34177475; PMCID: PMC8222913)655164https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2021.655164
- Effects of caloric vestibular stimulation on head and trunk movements during walking.Gait Posture. 2002 Jun; 15 (PMID: 11983502): 274-281https://doi.org/10.1016/s0966-6362(01)00152-7
- Positional periodic alternating vertical nystagmus with PCA-Tr antibodies in Hodgkin lymphoma.Neurology. 2012 May 29; 78 (Epub 2012 May 16. PMID: 22592362; PMCID: PMC3467647): 1800-1802https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182583085
- Isolated nodular infarction.Stroke. 2009 Feb; 40 (Epub 2008 Dec 24. PMID: 19109545): 487-491https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.527762
- Le syndrome vestibulaire. En Lemierre y colabs.Traité de Médecine, Tomo XV1949 (Masson et Cie, París)
- syndrome cérébelleuse et la sémiologie vestibulaire.Rev. Neurol. 1958; 98: 699
- Sensitivity and specificity of platform posturography for identifying patients with vestibular dysfunction.Phys. Ther. 1995 Apr; 75 (PMID: 7899487): 290-305https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/75.4.290
- Exploración vestibuloespinal.Revista. ORL. 2018; 9: 139-143https://doi.org/10.14201/orl.17424
- Consensus on virtual management of vestibular disorders: urgent versus expedited care.Cerebellum. 2021 Feb; 20 (PMID: 32794025; PMCID: PMC7426203): 4-8https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-020-01178-8
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 09, 2022
Accepted:
July 31,
2022
Received in revised form:
July 3,
2022
Received:
March 31,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
