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Abstract
The effect of sensory deprivation or electrical stimulation on vestibular compensation was investigated for 7 days after unilateral labyrinthectomy (ULX) in 50 rabbits. Eye movements induced by sinusoidal rotation of the whole body and spontaneous nystagmus were measured for vestibulo-ocular compensation, and head deviation was measured for vestibulospinal Compensation. The rabbits were divided into 4 groups: one with ULX only (LX only), ULX with bilateral tarsorrhaphy (LX + TX), ULX with cervical dorsal root ganglionectomy (LX + GX), and a group stimulated electrically on the lesion-sided vestibular system with square pulse for 8 h/day (LX + ES). In LX only, the frequency of spontaneous nystagmus was 2.93 ± 0.19 beats/sec just after ULX, declining to zero in 4 days. In eye movements induced by sinusoidal rotation on the 7th day after ULX, directional preponderance was 24–43% and gain decreased to 32–48% by rotation toward the intact side and 17–29% by rotation toward the lesion side, compared with that before ULX. Roll head tilt and yaw head tilt were 82 ± 9°, 45 ± 6°, respectively, on the 7th day. Recovery of vestibulo-ocular reflex and head deviation was delayed in LX + TX and LX + GX compared with that in ULX only, but recovery was enhanced in LX + ES. Therefore, in this study, electrical stimulation of the lesion side seemed to have a favorable effect on suppression of acute vestibular symptoms induced by unilateral vestibular lesion.