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Low-frequency physiological activation of the vestibular utricle causes biphasic modulation of skin sympathetic nerve activity in humans

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Abstract

We have previously shown that sinusoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation, a means of selectively modulating vestibular afferent activity, can cause partial entrainment of sympathetic outflow to muscle and skin in human subjects. However, it influences the firing of afferents from the entire vestibular apparatus, including the semicircular canals. Here, we tested the hypothesis that selective stimulation of one set of otolithic organs—those located in the utricle, which are sensitive to displacement in the horizontal axis—could entrain sympathetic nerve activity. Skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA) was recorded via tungsten microelectrodes inserted into cutaneous fascicles of the common peroneal nerve in 10 awake subjects, seated (head vertical, eyes closed) on a motorised platform. Slow sinusoidal accelerations–decelerations (~4 mG) were applied in the X (antero-posterior) or Y (medio-lateral) direction at 0.08 Hz; composite movements in both directions were also applied. Subjects either reported feeling a vague sense of movement (with no sense of direction) or no movement at all. Nevertheless, cross-correlation analysis revealed a marked entrainment of SSNA for all types of movements: vestibular modulation was 97 ± 3 % for movements in the X axis and 91 ± 5 % for displacements in the Y axis. For each sinusoidal cycle, there were two major peaks of modulation—one associated with acceleration as the platform moved forward or to the side, and one associated with acceleration in the opposite direction. We interpret these observations as reflecting inertial displacement of the stereocilia within the utricle during acceleration, which causes a robust vestibulosympathetic reflex.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council to KK and VGM (ARC DP 1096179). The motion simulator was fabricated by the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Tarandeep Grewal, Tye Dawood, Elie Hammam & Vaughan G. Macefield

  2. Institute for Infrastructure Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Kenny Kwok

  3. Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Vaughan G. Macefield

Authors
  1. Tarandeep Grewal
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  2. Tye Dawood
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  3. Elie Hammam
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  4. Kenny Kwok
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  5. Vaughan G. Macefield
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Correspondence to Vaughan G. Macefield.

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Grewal, T., Dawood, T., Hammam, E. et al. Low-frequency physiological activation of the vestibular utricle causes biphasic modulation of skin sympathetic nerve activity in humans. Exp Brain Res 220, 101–108 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3118-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3118-4

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