Why cold water delays the onset of vestibular vertigo—An functional MRI study

The mechanism of vertigo is unclear. Generally, the peak time or the latency of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) effect is about 6 s. However, clinically, the latency of vertigo or nystagmus induced by caloric stimulations is much longer than 6 s, commonly about 30 s induced by water of 30 °C or 44 °C. We hypothesize that there is an inhibitive power or mechanism for the occurrence of vestibular vertigo, since it is an unpleasant feeling. The caloric test was performed in healthy volunteers during the BOLD fMRI scanning. The overlaid results of statistical parametric mapping (SPM) showed that three brain regions showed neural activation during vestibular dizziness while deactivation occurred in response to cold water simulation: (1) supplementary motor area (SMA); (2) middle temporal area/medial superior temporal area (MT/MST); (3) visual association area (BA19). The time course of the regions further demonstrated that the signal decreased during the cold-water stimulation and increased during the period of vertigo. We therefore further hypothesize that there may be two forces for the production of vertigo: inhibitory power (IP) and promotive power (PP). The delayed onset of vertigo was the result of the interaction between IP and PP. All of our findings, for the first time, suggested such an original mechanism of vertigo.