Vestibular neuromodulation in psychiatric and neurological conditions

Caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) is a simple, safe, inexpensive bedside neuromodulation technique that has been shown to induce a wide range of phenomenological modulations in healthy brain functioning and various psychiatric and neurological disorders. There is growing interest in examining vestibular neuromodulation for its clinical translation potential. For an Honours, BMedSci or Masters project, the focus will be on applying CVS in patients with mania or depression (both inpatients and outpatients). For a PhD project, CVS can be applied in several psychiatric and neurological disorders in pilot fashion, followed by a focus on the clinical disorder(s) that demonstrate the most clinically meaningful modulations. The project can also examine vestibular neuromodulation in healthy control subjects, aiming to better understand relevant phenomenological and cognitive processing mechanisms. The main aim of the project however, will be to lay foundations for contributing a new effective brain stimulation tool in clinical psychiatry and/or neurology. For the full rationale underlying this project see: Miller SM (2016). Vestibular neuromodulation: stimulating the neural crossroads of psychiatric illness. Bipolar Disorders 18 (6): 539–543. Other applications of the CVS technique can be considered if your clinical or biomedical interests lie elsewhere.