Proof of Concept Study Concerning Vestibular Stimulation Using a New Method of Dynamic Posturography.

Falls in the elderly population are a major public health problem because of their frequency and their consequences, notably in terms of dependence their cost to society. In most cases, balance disorders related to an impaired vestibular system are blamed, even though there is no formal evidence that this is the case.

Vestibular tests in routine otoneurological practice are based on the exploration of vestibulo-ocular or even vestibulo-cortical reflexes. They are not particularly suitable to screen for vestibular disorders in falls.

A prototype rocking chair has been developed to test psycho-vestibular pathways, defined as the pathways via which vestibular afferents are transported to the subject's conscience. Thanks to this apparatus, a stimulus of body movement will be generated, but with limited tactile, visual and proprioceptive afferents, in such a way that the vestibular system alone is able to indicate to subjects their position in space. The subject will be required to detect oscillatory movement, and then to distinguish between a vestibular stimulus and a pulsed auditory stimulus.

The study hypothesis is that the movement stimulation generated by our prototype will be sufficient to stimulate the vestibular system, which will manifest itself as a conscious sensation of movement and by a vestibulo-ocular reflex causing oculomotor manifestations.