[from Gary Cziko 920609.1500]
To Wayne Hershberger and any other brain-eye experts:
A relative of mine has been having dizziness/vertigo/balance problems. The
patient's doctor originally thought this was caused by excess pressure in
the inner ear which disrupts the vestibular system (in acute stages called
Meniere's disease), but now he thinks it is more central and that the
problem is due to a malfunctioning of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR).
The patient reports a world which is never completely visually stable,
especially after quick head movements and after periods of activity which
result in head movements causing everything to "swim."
I am hoping that someone on the net (like Wayne Hershberger) could give me
a brief explanation of how the VOR works (particularly from a PCT
perspective, although I understand that at some basic level this is
supposed to be an open-loop system) and point me to some references that
would give me some more basic info. The doctor has said that there is not
much he can do about it, but recommended that the patient not try to avoid
conditions that cause the problem since he feels that this is the only way
(by "stressing the system") that it has a chance of fixing itself. Perhaps
PCT can tentatively offer some novel ways of approaching this problem.
Meanwhile, I'll be checking through the medical literature to see what I
can find.--Gary
···
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Gary A. Cziko Telephone: (217) 333-4382
Educational Psychology FAX: (217) 244-0538
University of Illinois E-mail: g-cziko@uiuc.edu
1310 S. Sixth Street Radio: N9MJZ
210 Education Building
Champaign, Illinois 61820-6990
USA
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Wayne: I posted this to the net yesterday hoping to get a response from
you. I am sending it again to you directly in case you missed it (or
perhaps you are just away having a wonderful vacation somewhere).--Gary
···
=====================================================
[from Gary Cziko 920609.1500]
To Wayne Hershberger and any other brain-eye experts:
A relative of mine has been having dizziness/vertigo/balance problems. The
patient's doctor originally thought this was caused by excess pressure in
the inner ear which disrupts the vestibular system (in acute stages called
Meniere's disease), but now he thinks it is more central and that the
problem is due to a malfunctioning of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR).
The patient reports a world which is never completely visually stable,
especially after quick head movements and after periods of activity which
result in head movements causing everything to "swim."
I am hoping that someone on the net (like Wayne Hershberger) could give me
a brief explanation of how the VOR works (particularly from a PCT
perspective, although I understand that at some basic level this is
supposed to be an open-loop system) and point me to some references that
would give me some more basic info. The doctor has said that there is not
much he can do about it, but recommended that the patient not try to avoid
conditions that cause the problem since he feels that this is the only way
(by "stressing the system") that it has a chance of fixing itself. Perhaps
PCT can tentatively offer some novel ways of approaching this problem.
Meanwhile, I'll be checking through the medical literature to see what I
can find.--Gary
------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary A. Cziko Telephone: (217) 333-4382
Educational Psychology FAX: (217) 244-0538
University of Illinois E-mail: g-cziko@uiuc.edu
1310 S. Sixth Street Radio: N9MJZ
210 Education Building
Champaign, Illinois 61820-6990
USA
------------------------------------------------------------------