Why might Vestibular Rehabilitation be useful ?
Here we will consider the “generic” type of vestibular rehabilitation in which ataxic or vertiginous individuals are provided with a series of tasks to perform that require them to use their eyes while their head is moving, and possibly when their body is also moving. There are many processes that might be usefully influenced by experience and motion: • 1. Plasticity — changes in central connections to compensate for peripheral disturbances. It would be nice if plasticity could handle everything. Unfortunately, there appear to be limits on how much the brain can compensate. Although conventional wisdom holds that older persons adapt less well than younger, a recent study suggests that there is no difference in benefit of vestibular rehabilitation according to age (Wriseley et al, 2002) • 2. Formation of internal models — a cognitive process where one learns what to expect from ones actions. Internal models are critical for predictive motor control, which is essential when one is cont
