Cerebral vestibular-evoked potentials depend on body orientation
Abstract
Otolithic vestibular receptors encode linear acceleration and head orientation relative to gravity, providing a fundamental reference signal for perception, action, and higher-order cognitive functions. However, the cerebral dynamics of otolithic information processing and their sensitivity to body orientation remain poorly characterized. Here, we used sound-induced vestibular stimulation combined with electroencephalography (EEG) in human participants to characterize vestibular-evoked potentials (vEPs) and to examine how body orientation relative to gravity modulates these responses. Otolithic activation was validated using cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials, confirming activation of otolithic pathways by 105-dB and 500-Hz tone pips. Acoustic stimuli included a novel masked stimulus that reduced auditory perception while preserving vestibular activation. Sound-induced vestibular stimulation elicited reliable short- and middle-latency vEP components. Importantly, middle-latency components Na/Pa (peak latency: 20–30 ms) and N*/P* (41–54 ms) were modulated by body orientation, showing reduced amplitudes in the supine compared with the upright position, but only for otolithic-activating sounds and not for matched auditory control stimuli. This orientation-dependent modulation was stronger for Na/Pa and was specific to otolithic-activating sounds, supporting a vestibular rather than auditory origin and highlighting early integration processes. This pattern suggests that modulation of vEPs primarily reflects context-dependent cerebral processing of otolithic signals rather than peripheral sensory mechanisms. Together, our results establish Na/Pa and N*/P* as reliable cerebral markers of otolithic processing and demonstrate that early cerebral vestibular responses are dynamically shaped by body orientation according to gravity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY : This study identifies middle-latency vestibular-evoked potentials as reliable cerebral markers of otolithic information processing. We show that both Na/Pa and N*/P* are selectively modulated by body orientation for otolithic-activating sounds but not for auditory controls. These findings reveal that early otolithic vestibular processing depends on body orientation, extending current models of multisensory vestibular integration.
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BibTeX
@article{kobliska2026cerebral,
title = {{Cerebral vestibular-evoked potentials depend on body orientation}},
author = {Paul Kobliska and Lou Seropian and Yannick Becker and Yves Cazals and Christophe Lopez},
journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1152/jn.00116.2026},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05760666v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Cerebral vestibular-evoked potentials depend on body orientation
AU - Paul Kobliska
AU - Lou Seropian
AU - Yannick Becker
AU - Yves Cazals
AU - Christophe Lopez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Journal of Neurophysiology
DO - 10.1152/jn.00116.2026
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05760666v1
AB - Otolithic vestibular receptors encode linear acceleration and head orientation relative to gravity, providing a fundamental reference signal for perception, action, and higher-order cognitive functions. However, the cerebral dynamics of otolithic information processing and their sensitivity to body orientation remain poorly characterized. Here, we used sound-induced vestibular stimulation combined with electroencephalography (EEG) in human participants to characterize vestibular-evoked potentials (vEPs) and to examine how body orientation relative to gravity modulates these responses. Otolithic activation was validated using cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials, confirming activation of otolithic pathways by 105-dB and 500-Hz tone pips. Acoustic stimuli included a novel masked stimulus that reduced auditory perception while preserving vestibular activation. Sound-induced vestibular stimulation elicited reliable short- and middle-latency vEP components. Importantly, middle-latency components Na/Pa (peak latency: 20–30 ms) and N*/P* (41–54 ms) were modulated by body orientation, showing reduced amplitudes in the supine compared with the upright position, but only for otolithic-activating sounds and not for matched auditory control stimuli. This orientation-dependent modulation was stronger for Na/Pa and was specific to otolithic-activating sounds, supporting a vestibular rather than auditory origin and highlighting early integration processes. This pattern suggests that modulation of vEPs primarily reflects context-dependent cerebral processing of otolithic signals rather than peripheral sensory mechanisms. Together, our results establish Na/Pa and N*/P* as reliable cerebral markers of otolithic processing and demonstrate that early cerebral vestibular responses are dynamically shaped by body orientation according to gravity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY : This study identifies middle-latency vestibular-evoked potentials as reliable cerebral markers of otolithic information processing. We show that both Na/Pa and N*/P* are selectively modulated by body orientation for otolithic-activating sounds but not for auditory controls. These findings reveal that early otolithic vestibular processing depends on body orientation, extending current models of multisensory vestibular integration.
SN - 0022-3077
SN - 1522-1598
ER -