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The vestibular system senses changes in head position and is responsible for the brain’s perception of verticality. Vestibular dysfunction is caused by deficits in the semicircular canals and/or otolith end-organs with resulting symptoms including dizziness, vertigo, and unsteadiness. Current vestibular rehabilitation focuses on compensation of the semicircular canal-mediated vestibulo-ocular reflex through gaze and balance exercises. Little is known about rehabilitation of otolith organ function, yet research findings suggest that fall risk may be related to otolith dysfunction. A recent case study demonstrated improvement of vertical perception and balance following off-axis rotation in a rotary chair, showing that such stimulation may be useful for compensation of otolith organ dysfunction. The purpose of our research was to further investigate off-axis rotation as a possible treatment method by evaluating subjective visual vertical (SVV) in healthy controls. Two distance parameters (3.5 cm off-axis and 7.0 cm off-axis) were applied to the rotary chair, with results measured through the SVV test, visual analog scales (VAS), and the balance tilt test (BTT). The magnitude of SVV shift following off-axis rotation was measured in both the 3.5 cm and 7.0 cm off-axis experiments. The greater distance parameter (7.0 cm) did not increase SVV shift magnitude more than the 3.5 cm parameter; yet, resulted in greater symptom intensity as measured through the VAS. These findings led to the conclusion that a distance parameter of 3.5 cm off-axis is optimal for stimulating the otolith organs. This discovery may be helpful in future research utilizing off-axis rotation as a possible treatment method for vestibular patients suffering from otolith dysfunction.

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No description available.