Torsional nystagmus and otolith dumping effects investigated by head circumduction

• DOI: 10.1152/jn.00570.2024
• Publication Date: 2025-03-28T11:51:50Z
• Authors: Michele Corrado; Bianca Nicklen; Yuxiao Li; Toby Jack Ellmers; Adolfo Miguel Bro...

Of all the triaxial vestibulo-ocular reflexes, torsional is the least studied for the need of heavy-duty rotational equipment. We introduce a simple self-paced paradigm to study the torsional vestibulo-ocular reflex—head circumduction, which produced in all participants stopping vestibular torsional nystagmus when circumduction was stopped. Forward head tilting significantly prolonged the postrotational torsional nystagmus duration—an “otolith dumping effect” that suggests, for the first time in humans, a role of the velocity storage mechanism in the torsional vestibulo-ocular reflex.