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Center for Balance Disorders

Houston, Texas

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Research at the Center for Balance Disorders

The Center for Balance Disorders conducts clinical research in order to study and evaluate the function of the vestibular system. Some of our grants have been funded by:

  • The Clayton Foundation for Research
  • National Institutes of Health National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and National Eye Institute
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Space Biomedical Research Institute
  • The American Occupational Therapy Foundation

Selected Topics of Research

  • Treatments for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
  • Management of Adaptation to Altered Sensorimotor States
  • Rehabilitation Paradigms for Chronic Vertigo
  • Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials
  • Research on Development of Epidemiologic Testing for Vestibular and Balance Disorders
  • Other

    • BPPV

    Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is the most common vestibular disorder. Patients with this problem complain of vertigo elicited by various head rotations. It can be disorienting, somewhat disabling, and can interfere with sleep and driving skills. Studies have been performed at the Center for Balance Disorders to consider the effectiveness of various treatments and the influence of symptoms such as rhinosinusitis.

    • Lawson J, Bamiou DE, Cohen HS, Newton J. (2008).Positional vertigo in a falls service. Age Ageing 35:585-589.

    • Cohen, HS, Murphy, EK. (2007) An augmented liberatory maneuver for benign paroxysmal vertigo for patients who are difficult to move. Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 136, 309-310.

    • Cohen HS, Kimball KT. (2005) Response characteristics of nystagmus elicited by the Dix-Hallpike maneuver in canalithiasis and cupulolithiasis subtypes of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Abstracts of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology Midwinter Meeting, 2005.

    • Cohen HS, Kimball KT. (2005) Effectiveness of treatments for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo of the posterior canal.  Otology & Neurotology 26:1034-1040.

    • Cohen HS, and Kimball KT. (2004) Treatment variations on the Epley maneuver for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.  American Journal of Otolaryngology, 25: 33-37.

    • Cohen HS. (2004) Sidelying as an alternative to the Dix-Hallpike test of the posterior semicircular canal. Otology and Neurotology 25: 130-134.

    • Cohen HS, Kimball KT, and Stewart MG. (2004) Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and co-morbid conditions.  ORL -- Journal of Oto- Rhino- Laryngology and Related Specialties 66: 11

    • Cohen HS, Jerabek J. (1999) Effectiveness of liberatory maneuvers for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo of the posterior canal.  Laryngoscope 109: 584-590.

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    Management of Adaptation to Altered Sensorimotor States

    Research at the Center for Balance Disorders involves collaborative studies with NASA (NSBRI) to improve balance adaptation times of astronauts in space and upon returning to earth.

    • Roller CA, Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ, Mulavara AP. (2009). Improvement of obstacle avoidance on a compliant surface during transfer to a novel visual task after variable practice under unusual visual conditions. Perceptual and Motor Skills 108:173-180.

    • Mulavara AP, Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ.(2009). Critical features of training that facilitate adaptive generalization of over ground locomotion. Gait and Posture 29:242-248.

    • Bucello-Stout R, Bloombert JJ, Cohen HS, Whorton EB, Weaver GD, Cromwell RL. (2008). Effects of sensorimotor adaptation training on functinal mobility in older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences 63B:P295-P300.

    • Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ. Visual Acuity Tests after acoustic neuroma resection. Acta Otolaryngologica, in press

    • Moore ST, MacDougall HG, Peters BT, Bloomberg JJ, Curthoys IS, Cohen HS. (2006). Modeling locomotor dysfunction following spaceflight with galvanic vestibular stimulation. Experimental Brain Research, June 9, e-pub ahead of print.

    • Gottshall K.R., Hoffer M.E., Cohen HS, Moore RJ. (2006). Active head movements facilitate compensation for effects of prism displacement on dynamic gait. Journal of Vestibular Research 16: 29-33.

    • Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ, Mulavara AP.  (2005). Obstacle avoidance in novel visual environments improved by variable practice training. Perceptual and Motor Skills 101:853 - 861

    • Cohen HS. (2003) Update on the status of rehabilitative countermeasures to ameliorate the effects of long-duration exposure to microgravity on vestibular and sensorimotor function. Journal of Vestibular Research 13: 405-409.

    • Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ, Mulavara A, Roller CA. (2002) Variable practice to facilitate motor learning for countermeasures.  Abstracts of the Sixth Symposium on the Role of the Vestibular Organs in the Exploration of Space, Portland, OR.   Journal of Vestibular Research 11: 337-338.

    • Roller CA, Cohen HS, Kimball KT, and Bloomberg JJ.  (2002) Effects of normal aging on visuo-motor plasticity.  Neurobiology of Aging 23:117-123.

    • Roller CA, Cohen HS, Kimball KT, and Bloomberg JJ. (2001) Variable practice with lenses improves visuo-motor plasticity.  Cognitive Brain Research 12: 341-352.

    • Bloomberg JJ, Merkle LA, Barry SR, Huebner WP, Cohen HS, Mueller A, and Fordice, J. (2000) Effects of adaptation of vestibulo-ocular reflex function on manual target localization.  Journal of Vestibular Research 10: 75-86.

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    Rehabilitation Paradigms for Chronic Vertigo

    The effectiveness of structured exercise was studied to see if vertigo decreased, postural control improved, and essential life tasks could be performed more independently.

    • Cohen HS, Murphy EK (2006), A modification of the liberatory maneuver for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo for patients who are difficult to move. Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, in press

    • Cohen HS, Bloomberg JJ. (2007). Visual acuity tests after acoustic neuroma resection. Acta Otolaryngologica 127:825-828.

    • Cohen HS. (2006) Disability and rehabilitation in the dizzy patient. Current Opinion in Neurology 19:49-54

    • Cohen, HS (2005).  Disability in vestibular disorders.  In: Herdman, SJ (ed.) Vestibular Rehabilitation, third edition.  Philadelphia: Davis.

    • Cohen HS, and Kimball KT. (2004) Changes in a repetitive head movement task after vestibular rehabilitation. Clinical Rehabilitation 18: 125-131.

    • Cohen HS, and Kimball KT. (2004) Decreased ataxia and improved balance after vestibular rehabilitation.  Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 130: 418-425.

    • Cohen, HS. (2004)  Vestibular rehabilitation and stroke.  In Gillen, G. and Burkhardt, A (eds.), Stroke Rehabilitation: A Function-Based Approach. 2nd Ed.  pp. 164-171. St. Louis: Mosby.

    • Cohen HS, and Kimball KT. (2003) Increased independence and decreased vertigo after vestibular rehabilitation.  Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 128: 56-66.

    • Cohen HS, Wells J, Kimball KT, and Owsley C. (2003) Driving disability in dizziness.  Journal of Safety Research 34 (4): 361-369.

    • Cohen HS, and Kimball KT. (2002) Improvements in path integration after vestibular rehabilitation. Journal of Vestibular Research 12: 47-51.

    • Cohen HS. (2001) Specialized knowledge and skills in adult vestibular rehabilitation for occupational therapy practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 55: 661-665.

    • Cohen HS. (2000) Vestibular disorders and impaired path integration along a linear trajectory.  Journal of Vestibular Research 10:7-15.

    • Cohen HS, & Kimball KT. (2000) Development of the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale.  Archives of Otolaryngology 126: 881-887.

    • Cohen HS, Kimball KT, & Adams AS.  (2000) Application of the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale.  Laryngoscope 110: 1204-1209

    • Cohen HS & Gavia JA. (1998) A task for assessing vertigo elicited by repetitive head movements. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 52: 644-649

    • Cohen H, Kane-Wineland M, Miller LV, & Hatfield CL. (1995) Occupation and visual/ vestibular interaction in vestibular rehabilitation. Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 112: 526-532.

    • Cohen H. (1995) Defining disablement in otolaryngology. Ear, Nose, and Throat Journal 74: 233-237.

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    Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials

    Bithermal caloric tests and rotary chair (RC) testing assess lateral semicircular canal function, and are the most commonly used vestibular function tests, but these tests do not give a complete picture, as they generally evaluate superior vestibular nerve function.  Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) measure saccule/inferior vestibular nerve function and may be particularly important for generation of postural responses and vertical vestibulo-ocular reflex generated during head motion.

    • Isaacson, B, Murphy, EK, Cohen, HS (2006) Does head and body position affect data acquisition in vestibular evoked myogenic potentials? ARO abstract.

      • Research on Development of Epidemiologic Testing for Vestibular and Balance Disorders

    • Cohen HS, Kimball KT (2008). Usefulness of some current balance tests for identifying individuals with disequilibrium due to vestibular impairments. Journal of Vestibular Research 18: 295-303.

      • Other

    • Murphy, E. (2008) Use of an Infrared Camera to Improve the Outcome of Facial Nerve Monitoring. American Journal of Electroneurodiagnostic Technology Vol. 48, No. 1 March 2008

    • Ondo W, Almaguer M, Cohen HS. (2006) Computerized posturography balance assessment of patients with bilateral VIM deep brain stimulation. Movement Disorders 21:2243-2247.

    • Moore ST, MacDougall HG, Gracies J-M, Cohen HS, Ondo WG. (2007) Long-term monitoring of gait in Parkinson's disease. Gait and Posture 26:200-207.

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