Objective evaluation of vestibular resistance depending on the direction of change of nystagmus parameters after cumulation of coriolis acceleration.

Abstract

In investigations on 30 volunteers 172 electronystagmograms (ENG) were recorded. The tests showed that cumulative exposure to Coriolis accelerations either activates, inhibits, or causes no significant change in the quantitative parameters of nystagmus. A new objective method of individual assessment of the state of vestibular function for use during vestibulometry in hospital, based on comparative assessment of the direction of changes in magnitude of the nystagmus response after continuous cumulation of Coriolis accelerations is suggested. Subjects in whom the velocity of the slow phase (VSF) of nystagmus after exposure to continuous cumulation of Coriolis acceleration (CCCA) exceeds its usual value before CCCA are considered to have high vestibular resistance; subjects in whom VSF of nystagmus falls significantly (or is unchanged) after CCCA are considered to exhibit vestibular instability.