Vestibular responses to linear acceleration are absent in otoconia-deficient C57BL/6JEi-het mice

Vestibular evoked potentials (VsEPs) were measured in normal mice and in mi ce homozygous for the head tilt mutation (hetlhet, abbr. het). The het mice lack otoconia, the inertial mass critical for natural stimulation of inner ear gravity receptors. Our findings demonstrate that vestibular neural res ponses to pulsed linear acceleration are absent in het mice. The results: ( 1) confirm that adequate sensory stimuli fail to activate gravity receptors in the het model; and (2) serve as definitive evidence that Far-field vest ibular responses to pulsed linear acceleration depend critically on otolith end organs. The C57BL/6JEi-het mouse may be an excellent model of gravity receptor sensory deprivation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.