Vestibular Cognition

In this volume specific cognitive sub-functions are identified and indications of how basic vestibular input contributes to each are described. The broad range of these functions is consistent with the broad spread of vestibular projections throughout the cortex. Combining vestibular signals about the head’s orientation relative to gravity with information about head position relative to the body provides sufficient information to map body position onto the ground surface and underlie the sense of spatial position. But vestibular signals are also fundamental to sensorimotor control and even to high-level bodily perception such as the sense of body ownership and the anchoring of perspective to the body. Clinical observations confirm the essential role of vestibular signals in maintaining a coherent self-representation and suggest some novel rehabilitation strategies.

The chapters presented in this volume are previously published in a Special Issue of Multisensory Research, Volume 28, Issue 5-6 (2015).

Contributors are: M. Barnett-Cowan, O. Blanke, J. Blouin, G. Bosco, G. Bottini, J.-P. Bresciani, J.C. Culham, C.L. Darlington, A.W. Ellis, E.R. Ferrè, M. Gandola, L. Grabherr, S. Gravano, P. Grivaz, E. Guillaud, P. Haggard, L.R. Harris, A.E.N. Hoover, I. Indovina, K. Jáuregu Renaud, M. Kaliuzhna, F. Lacquaniti, B. Lenggenhager, C. Lopez, G. Macauda, V. Maffei, F.W. Mast, B. La Scaleia, B.M. Seemungal, M. Simoneau, P.F. Smith, J.C. Snow, D. Vibert, M. Zago, and Y. Zheng.

Elisa Raffaella Ferrè is a Lecturer of Psychology and Director of the Vestibular Multisensory Embodiment Laboratory at Royal Holloway University of London. She obtained her PhD from the University of Pavia in 2012. Her research focuses on vestibular-multisensory interactions for bodily perception and awareness.

Laurence Harris is a Professor of Psychology, Director of the Centre for Vision Research, and Director of the Multisensory Integration Laboratory at York University in Toronto. He obtained his PhD from Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1979. He is a neuroscientist with a background in sensory processes.