Evidence for the differential efficacy of yaw and pitch gaze stabilization mechanisms in people with multiple sclerosis

Colin R. Grove, Brian J. Loyd, Leland E. Dibble, Michael C. Schubert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) who report dizziness often have gaze instability due to vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) deficiencies and compensatory saccade (CS) abnormalities. Herein, we aimed to describe and compare the gaze stabilization mechanisms for yaw and pitch head movements in PwMS. Thirty-seven PwMS (27 female, mean ± SD age = 53.4 ± 12.4 years old, median [IQR] Expanded Disability Status Scale Score = 3.5, [1.0]. We analyzed video head impulse test results for VOR gain, CS frequency, CS latency, gaze position error (GPE) at impulse end, and GPE at 400 ms after impulse start. Discrepancies were found for median [IQR] VOR gain in yaw (0.92 [0.14]) versus pitch-up (0.71 [0.44], p < 0.001) and pitch-down (0.81 [0.44], p = 0.014]), CS latency in yaw (258.13 [76.8]) ms versus pitch-up (208.78 [65.97]) ms, p = 0.001] and pitch-down (132.17 [97.56] ms, p = 0.006), GPE at impulse end in yaw (1.15 [1.85] degs versus pitch-up (2.71 [3.9] degs, p < 0.001), and GPE at 400 ms in yaw (-0.25 [0.98] degs) versus pitch-up (1.53 [1.07] degs, p < 0.001) and pitch-down (1.12 [1.82] degs, p = 0.001). Compared with yaw (0.91 [0.75]), CS frequency was similar for pitch-up (1.03 [0.93], p = 0.999) but lower for pitch-down (0.65 [0.64], p = 0.023). GPE at 400 ms was similar for yaw and pitch-down (1.88 [2.76] degs, p = 0.400). We postulate that MS may have preferentially damaged the vertical VOR and saccade pathways in this cohort.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1797-1806
Number of pages10
JournalExperimental Brain Research
Volume242
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 5 2024

Keywords

  • Compensatory saccade
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Vestibulo-ocular reflex
  • Video head impulse test
  • Multiple Sclerosis/physiopathology
  • Fixation, Ocular/physiology
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Head Movements/physiology
  • Head Impulse Test/methods
  • Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular/physiology
  • Female
  • Adult
  • Saccades/physiology
  • Aged

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