Vestibular Contributions to Health and Disease

Friday, October 25, 2019, 7:00 AM - Saturday, October 26, 2019, 5:00 PM, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Stern Auditorium, 1468 Madison Avenue


The early development of the vestibular apparatus in fish, frogs, and other primordial vertebrates has persisted largely unchanged from fish to man. This system controls spatial orientation,perception of gravity and the spatial vertical, and locomotion in three-dimensional space. It also controls breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure, as well as other aspects of autonomic function.Because the control of these functions takes place largely out of consciousness, their actions can be frightening to those who experience their dysfunction and cause substantial difficulty to physicians trying to calm or modulate their activity. Although the basic structure of the semicircular canals and otolith organs is known, it is still not entirely clear how and where the perception is controlled in the brain stem, the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex.

This two-day CME live activity is divided into four parts each devoted to an important component of vestibular, vestibular autonomic, and vestibulo-cerebellar function. An international faculty of experts will share new and established data from experimental vestibular studies, including up-to-date appraisal of clinical and experimental studies of the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, and studies of the neural basis for positional nystagmus and balance.The program will include the annual Mount Sinai Yahr Lecture which will be delivered by Charles Della Santina, MD, PhD, on the development of electrical activation of semicircular canal nerves to restore three-dimensional spatial orientation.

1. Discuss the relationship between the vestibular, ocular motor, cerebellar systems and neurological conditions and how they may facilitate differential diagnosis and management.
2. Explain the impact of the vestibular system on sympathetic function.
3. Describe a management plan for the patient with Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) and/or motion sickness.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (13.00 hours), Non-Physician Attendance (13.00 hours)

If you would like assistance with hotel arrangements, please contact our housing manager Denise Newman by email: [email protected] or call 718-835-4911

It is the policy of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to ensure objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, and scientific rigor in all CME-provided educational activities. All faculty participating in the planning or implementation of a provided activity are expected to disclose to the audience any relevant financial relationships and to assist in resolving any conflict of interest that may arise from the relationship. Presenters must also make a meaningful disclosure to the audience of their discussions of unlabeled or unapproved drugs or devices. This information will be available as part of the course material.

Frontiers Spotlight - The Frontiers Spotlight Award is an annual prize awarded to the most active, collaborative and impactful Research Topic. The award supports emerging fields of research and includes Research Topics from Frontiers’ full editorial program: life sciences, health, physical sciences and engineering, humanities and social sciences, and sustainability."