Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges

The vestibular system is integral to behavior; the loss of peripheral vestibular function leads to disabling consequences, such as blurred vision, dizziness, and unstable posture, severely limiting activities of daily living. Fortunately, the vestibular system’s well-defined peripheral structure and...

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Main Authors: Kantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul, Olivia ME Leavitt Brown, Kathleen E Cullen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2024-12-01
Series:eLife
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Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/99516
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author Kantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul
Olivia ME Leavitt Brown
Kathleen E Cullen
author_facet Kantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul
Olivia ME Leavitt Brown
Kathleen E Cullen
author_sort Kantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul
collection DOAJ
description The vestibular system is integral to behavior; the loss of peripheral vestibular function leads to disabling consequences, such as blurred vision, dizziness, and unstable posture, severely limiting activities of daily living. Fortunately, the vestibular system’s well-defined peripheral structure and well-understood encoding strategies offer unique opportunities for developing sensory prostheses to restore vestibular function. While these devices show promising results in both animal models and implanted patients, substantial room for improvement remains. Research from an engineering perspective has largely focused on optimizing stimulation protocol to improve outcomes. However, this approach has often been pursued in isolation from research in neuroscience that has enriched our understanding of neural responses at the synaptic, cellular, and circuit levels. Accordingly, this review bridges the domains of neuroscience and engineering to consider recent progress and challenges in vestibular prosthesis development. We advocate for interdisciplinary approaches that leverage studies of neural circuits at the population level, especially in light of recent advancement in large-scale recording technology, to identify impediments still to overcome and to develop more naturalistic stimulation strategies. Fully integrating neuroscience and engineering in the context of prosthesis development will help advance the field forward and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
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spelling doaj-art-18a995928cd54dd8a4aa7026d3b19efa2025-08-20T02:36:42ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2024-12-011310.7554/eLife.99516Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challengesKantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5468-9718Olivia ME Leavitt Brown1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2932-1249Kathleen E Cullen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9348-0933Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United StatesDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United StatesDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United StatesThe vestibular system is integral to behavior; the loss of peripheral vestibular function leads to disabling consequences, such as blurred vision, dizziness, and unstable posture, severely limiting activities of daily living. Fortunately, the vestibular system’s well-defined peripheral structure and well-understood encoding strategies offer unique opportunities for developing sensory prostheses to restore vestibular function. While these devices show promising results in both animal models and implanted patients, substantial room for improvement remains. Research from an engineering perspective has largely focused on optimizing stimulation protocol to improve outcomes. However, this approach has often been pursued in isolation from research in neuroscience that has enriched our understanding of neural responses at the synaptic, cellular, and circuit levels. Accordingly, this review bridges the domains of neuroscience and engineering to consider recent progress and challenges in vestibular prosthesis development. We advocate for interdisciplinary approaches that leverage studies of neural circuits at the population level, especially in light of recent advancement in large-scale recording technology, to identify impediments still to overcome and to develop more naturalistic stimulation strategies. Fully integrating neuroscience and engineering in the context of prosthesis development will help advance the field forward and ultimately improve patient outcomes.https://elifesciences.org/articles/99516vestibular prosthesessensory integrationneural plasticitybiomimetic stimulationneurophysiology
spellingShingle Kantapon Pum Wiboonsaksakul
Olivia ME Leavitt Brown
Kathleen E Cullen
Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
eLife
vestibular prostheses
sensory integration
neural plasticity
biomimetic stimulation
neurophysiology
title Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
title_full Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
title_fullStr Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
title_short Restoring vestibular function during natural self-motion: Progress and challenges
title_sort restoring vestibular function during natural self motion progress and challenges
topic vestibular prostheses
sensory integration
neural plasticity
biomimetic stimulation
neurophysiology
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/99516
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AT kathleenecullen restoringvestibularfunctionduringnaturalselfmotionprogressandchallenges