Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Longitudinal Regional Brain Activation and Behavioral Responses to Repetitive Low-Intensity Vestibular Noise Stimulation in a Bilateral Vestibular Loss Rat Model

Max Wühr
ORCID logo ,
Eva Eilles
,
Magdalena Lindner
,
Maximilian Grosch
,
Roswitha Beck
,
Sibylle Ziegler
,
Andreas Zwergal
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 31 August 2023 / Approved: 1 September 2023 / Online: 1 September 2023 (07:27:29 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Wuehr, M.; Eilles, E.; Lindner, M.; Grosch, M.; Beck, R.; Ziegler, S.; Zwergal, A. Repetitive Low-Intensity Vestibular Noise Stimulation Partly Reverses Behavioral and Brain Activity Changes following Bilateral Vestibular Loss in Rats. Biomolecules 2023, 13, 1580. Wuehr, M.; Eilles, E.; Lindner, M.; Grosch, M.; Beck, R.; Ziegler, S.; Zwergal, A. Repetitive Low-Intensity Vestibular Noise Stimulation Partly Reverses Behavioral and Brain Activity Changes following Bilateral Vestibular Loss in Rats. Biomolecules 2023, 13, 1580.

Abstract

Low-intensity noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) can improve static and dynamic postural deficits in patients with bilateral vestibular loss (BVL). In this study, we aimed to explore the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical substrates underlying nGVS treatment effects in a rat model of BVL. Regional brain activation patterns and behavioral responses to repeated 30-min nGVS treatment in comparison to sham stimulation were investigated by serial whole-brain [18F]-FDG-PET measurements and quantitative locomotor assessments before and at 9 consecutive time points up to 60 days after chemical bilateral labyrinthectomy (BL). [18F]-FDG-PET revealed a broad nGVS-induced modulation on regional brain activation patterns encompassing biologically plausible brain networks in the brainstem, cerebellum, multisensory cortex and basal ganglia during the entire observation period post-BL. nGVS broadly reversed brain activity adaptions occurring in the natural course post-BL. Parallel behavioral locomotor assessment demonstrated a beneficial treatment effect of nGVS on sensory-ataxic gait alterations, particularly in the early stage of post-BL recovery. Stimulation-induced locomotor improvements were finally linked to nGVS brain activity responses in the brainstem, hemispheric motor and limbic networks. In conclusion, combined [18F]-FDG-PET and locomotor analysis discloses the potential neurophysiological and neuroanatomical substrates that mediate previously observed therapeutic nGVS effects on postural deficits in patients with BVL.

Keywords

bilateral vestibulopathy; galvanic vestibular stimulation; stochastic resonance; [18F]-FDG imaging; locomotion; gait analysis; animal models; adaptive neuroplasticity

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Neuroscience and Neurology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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