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Older adults demonstrate superior vestibular perception for virtual rotations Peters, Ryan M.; Blouin, Jean-Sébastien; Dalton, Brian H.; Inglis, J. Timothy

Abstract

Adult aging results in a progressive loss of vestibular hair cell receptors and afferent fibres. Given the robustness of vestibulo-ocular and vestibular-evoked whole-body responses to age-related deterioration, it was proposed that the vestibular system compensates centrally. Here we examine the potential for central compensation in vestibular sensitivity with adult aging by using a combination of real and virtual rotation-based psychophysical testing at two stimulus frequencies (0.1 & 1 Hz). Real rotations activate semi-circular canal hair cell receptors naturally via mechanotransduction, while electrical current used to evoke virtual rotations does not rely on mechanical deformation of hair cell receptors to activate vestibular afferents. This two-pronged approach allows us to determine the independent effects of age-related peripheral afferent receptor loss and potential compensatory mechanisms. Older adults had thresholds for discriminating real rotations that were significantly greater than young adults at 0.1 Hz (7.2 vs. 3 º/s), but the effect of age was weaker (non-significant) at 1 Hz (2.4 vs. 1.3 º/s). For virtual rotations, older adults had greater thresholds than young adults at 0.1 Hz (1.2 vs. 0.5 mA), however, older adults outperformed young adults at 1 Hz (0.6 vs. 1.1 mA). Based on these thresholds, we argue that central vestibular processing gain is enhanced in older adults for 1 Hz real and virtual rotations, partially offsetting the negative impact of normal age-related hair cell receptor and primary afferent loss. We propose that the frequency dependence of this compensation reflects the physiological importance of the 1-5 Hz range in natural vestibular input.

Item Metadata

Title
Older adults demonstrate superior vestibular perception for virtual rotations
Alternate Title
Aging vestibular perception
Creator
Peters, Ryan M.; Blouin, Jean-Sébastien; Dalton, Brian H.; Inglis, J. Timothy
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Date Issued
2016-09
Description
Adult aging results in a progressive loss of vestibular hair cell receptors and afferent fibres. Given the robustness of vestibulo-ocular and vestibular-evoked whole-body responses to age-related deterioration, it was proposed that the vestibular system compensates centrally. Here we examine the potential for central compensation in vestibular sensitivity with adult aging by using a combination of real and virtual rotation-based psychophysical testing at two stimulus frequencies (0.1 & 1 Hz). Real rotations activate semi-circular canal hair cell receptors naturally via mechanotransduction, while electrical current used to evoke virtual rotations does not rely on mechanical deformation of hair cell receptors to activate vestibular afferents. This two-pronged approach allows us to determine the independent effects of age-related peripheral afferent receptor loss and potential compensatory mechanisms. Older adults had thresholds for discriminating real rotations that were significantly greater than young adults at 0.1 Hz (7.2 vs. 3 º/s), but the effect of age was weaker (non-significant) at 1 Hz (2.4 vs. 1.3 º/s). For virtual rotations, older adults had greater thresholds than young adults at 0.1 Hz (1.2 vs. 0.5 mA), however, older adults outperformed young adults at 1 Hz (0.6 vs. 1.1 mA). Based on these thresholds, we argue that central vestibular processing gain is enhanced in older adults for 1 Hz real and virtual rotations, partially offsetting the negative impact of normal age-related hair cell receptor and primary afferent loss. We propose that the frequency dependence of this compensation reflects the physiological importance of the 1-5 Hz range in natural vestibular input.
Subject
Aging; Hair Cell Receptors; Semi-Circular Canals; Galvanic; Psychophysics
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2017-09-01
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0340931
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/60444
Affiliation
Education, Faculty of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Kinesiology, School of
Citation
Peters, R. M., Blouin, J., Dalton, B. H., & Inglis, J. T. (2016). Older adults demonstrate superior vestibular perception for virtual rotations. Experimental Gerontology, 82, 50-57.
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.exger.2016.05.014
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Postdoctoral
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International