Probing Impaired Cognition in Dizziness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Neural mechanisms of impaired cognition following vestibular dysfunction
IRAS ID
269243
Contact name
Qadeer Arshad
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study aims to investigate how cognitive function is impaired following damage to either the balance organ directly or indirectly (via the connections that the balance areas in the brain have with other sensory areas). The rationale for this study is provided by previous work, including our own, which demonstrates that, (i) artificial stimulation of the balance organ in healthy individuals can modulate cognitive processes such as number perception (Arshad et al., 2016a, Arshad et al., 2016b), and decision making (Arshad et al., 2017a) and, (ii) patients with dizziness can have significant cognitive impairment (Ahmed et al., 2017, Kaski et al., 2019). In this proposed study, the specific cognitive factors that we will test are currently unaddressed and include visual attention, spatial awareness, spatial working memory, decision-making, visual consciousness awareness and motion perception. The implications of the proposed research is not merely for scientific curiosity, but is critical for understanding why patients with balance problems suffer from cognitive impairment that impacts upon their ability to work (Dietrich and Staab 2017). The proposed study is a cross-sectional observational study and will recruit patients from the Ear Nose Throat (ENT) clinic at Leicester Royal infirmary, ENT clinic at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and the neuro-otology clinics at the National hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Charing Cross Hospital and Kings College hospital trust in London.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EM/0335
Date of REC Opinion
30 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion