Reduced choice-related activity and correlated noise accompany perceptual deficits following unilateral vestibular lesion.

ABSTRACT: Signals from the bilateral vestibular labyrinths work in tandem to generate robust estimates of our motion and orientation in the world. The relative contributions of each labyrinth to behavior, as well as how the brain recovers after unilateral peripheral damage, have been characterized for motor reflexes, but never for perceptual functions. Here we measure perceptual deficits in a heading discrimination task following surgical ablation of the neurosensory epithelium in one labyrinth. We found large increases in heading discrimination thresholds and large perceptual biases at 1 wk postlesion. Repeated testing thereafter improved heading perception, but vestibular discrimination thresholds remained elevated 3 mo postlesion. Electrophysiological recordings from the contralateral vestibular

SUBMITTER: Liu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3816465 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature