Introduction

The Vestibulo-Oculomotor Laboratory at University Hospital Zurich conducts research on the neural systems controlling balance, eye, head, and reaching movements. We are particularly interested in the diagnosis and treatment of central and peripheral diseases of the ocular motor and vestibular systems in humans. Recently, we started to investigate the ocular motor system in zebrafish larvae with the focus on the pathophysiology and treatment of congenital nystagmus. Our laboratory is equipped with unique devices (such as the 3D turntable or the hexapod) that allow us to precisely control and measure human movements in order to study the sensorimotor interactions that are necessary to help us move in dynamic environments.

3D motorized human turntable (Acutronic)

Hexapod motion simulator (FCS-Moog)

Researchers

Senior researchers and group leaders

Chris Bockisch, Ph.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 4351
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: chris.bockisch@usz.ch

PD Stefan Hegemann, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5816
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: Stefan.hegemann@usz.ch

Melody Ying-Yu Huang, Ph.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: ying-yu.huang@usz.ch

Sarah Marti, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5529
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: sarah.marti@usz.ch

PD Antonella Palla, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5554
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: antonella.palla@usz.ch

Prof. Dominik Straumann, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: dominik.straumann@usz.ch

Konrad Weber, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 4351
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: konrad.weber@usz.ch

Giovanni Bertolini, Ph.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
E-Mail: giovanni.bertolini@usz.ch

Elham Khojasteh, Ph.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
E-Mail: elham.khojasteh@usz.ch

Itsaso Olasagasti, Ph.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
E-Mail: miren.olasagasti@usz.ch

Alexander Tarnuzter, M.D.
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: alexander.tarnutzer@usz.ch

Doctoral students

Maresa Afthinos
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: maresa.afthinos@usz.ch

Chien-Cheng Chen
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: chien-cheng.chen@usz.ch 

Sonya Yongmei Sun
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 3996
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail: yongmei.sun@usz.ch

Engineers and technicians

Elena Buffone
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5547/50
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail:  elena.buffone@usz.ch

Marco Penner
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 5564
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4307
E-Mail:  marco.penner@usz.ch

Urs Scheifele
Tel.: +41 (0) 44 255 4351
Fax: +41 (0) 44 255 4533
E-Mail:  urs.scheifele@usz.ch

Major projects

Ocular motor plasticy following vestibular tone asymmetry in humans
Hegemann Stefan et al.
SNF: http://p3.snf.ch/project-122535

Three-dimensional kinematical analysis of ocular motor disorders in humans
Dominik Straumann et al.
SNF: http://p3.snf.ch/project-133125

Study of infantile nystagmus syndrome: development of the ocular motor system, disease mechanism and clinical applications (Marie Heim-Voegtlin grant)
Melody Ying-Yu Huang
SNF: http://p3.snf.ch/project-139754

Pathophysiology of rebound: Instability of cerebellar null representation for ocular motor control and gravity perception
Sarah Marti et al.
SNF: http://p3.snf.ch/project-130163

Using zebrafish mutant belladonna and hypopigmented mice as disease models to study congenital nystagmus in human patients
Dominik Straumann et al.
ZIHP: http://www.zihp.uzh.ch/research/cooperative-projects/current.html

Recent publications

Weber KP, Rosengren SM, Michels R, Sturm V, Straumann D, Landau K. Single motor unit activity in human extraocular muscles during the vestibulo-ocular reflex. J Physiol. 2012 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print].

Tarnutzer AA, Bockisch CJ, Olasagasti I, Strauman D. Egocentric and allocentric alignment tasks are affected by otolith input. J Neurophysiol. 2012 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Laurens J, Valko Y, Straumann D. Experimental parameter estimation of a visuo-vestibular interaction model in humans. J Vestib Res. 2011 Jan 1;21(5):251-66.

Straumann D, Bockisch CJ. Neurophysiology: vertigo in MRI machines. Curr Biol. 2011 Oct 11;21(19):R806-7.

Huang MY, Chen CC, Huber-Reggi SP, Neuhauss SC, Straumann D. Comparison of infantile nystagmus syndrome in achiasmatic zebrafish and humans. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Sep;1233:285-91.

Cohen B, Dai M, Ogorodnikov D, Laurens J, Raphan T, Müller P, Athanasios A, Edmaier J, Grossenbacher T, Stadtmüller K, Brugger U, Hauser G, Straumann D. Motion sickness on tilting trains. FASEB J. 2011 Nov;25(11):3765-74

Olasagasti I, Bockisch CJ, Zee DS, Straumann D. Dynamic cyclovergence during vertical translation in humans. J Neurosci. 2011 Jul 6;31(27):9991-7.

Hess BJ, Thomassen JS. Quick phases control ocular torsion during smooth pursuit. J Neurophysiol. 2011 Nov;106(5):2151-66.

Keller Chandra S, Bockisch CJ, Dietz V, Hegemann SC, Straumann D, van Hedel HJ. Gaze strategies for avoiding obstacles: Differences between young and elderly subjects. Gait Posture. 2011 Jul;34(3):340-6.

Laurens J, Strauman D, Hess BJ. Spinning versus wobbling: how the brain solves a geometry problem. J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 1;31(22):8093-101.

Hegemann SC, Carey JP. Is superior canal dehiscence congenital or acquired? A case report and review of the literature. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2011 Apr;44(2):377-82.

Tarnutzer AA, Shaikh AG, Palla A, Straumann D, Marti S. Vestibulo-cerebellar disease impairs the central representation of self-orientation. Front Neurol. 2011 Feb 28;2:11.

Tatalias M, Bockisch CJ, Bertolini G, Straumann D, Palla A. Antihysteresis of perceived longitudinal body axis during continuous quasi-static whole-body rotation in the earth-vertical roll plane. Exp Brain Res. 2011 Mar;209(3):443-54.

Bertolini G, Ramat S, Laurens J, Bockisch CJ, Marti S, Straumann D, Palla A. Velocity storage contribution to vestibular self-motion perception in healthy human subjects. J Neurophysiol. 2011 Jan;105(1):209-23.

Valko Y, Hegemann SC, Weber KP, Straumann D, Bockisch CJ. Relative diagnostic value of ocular vestibular evoked potentials and the subjective visual vertical during tilt and eccentric rotation. Clin Neurophysiol. 2011 Feb;122(2):398-404.

Huang YY, Tschopp M, Straumann D, Neuhauss SC. Vestibular deficits do not underlie looping behavior in achiasmatic fish. Commun Integr Biol. 2010 Jul;3(4):379-81.

Thomassen JS, Benedetto GD, Hess BJ. Decoding 3D search coil signals in a
non-homogeneous magnetic field. Vision Res. 2010 Mar 30.

Tarnutzer AA, Bockisch CJ, Straumann D. Roll-dependent modulation of the
subjective visual vertical: contributions of head- and trunk-based signals. J
Neurophysiol. 2010 Feb;103(2):934-41.

Loetscher T, Bockisch CJ, Nicholls ME, Brugger P. Eye position predicts what
number you have in mind. Curr Biol. 2010 Mar 23;20(6):R264-5.

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