الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 189 |  |  |
| | | from | 189 | | |
Abstract
Age-related vestibular dysfunction and associated imbalance has a major impact on morbidity, mortality and health-care resources. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the NIH, falls account for over 50% of all accidental deaths in the elderly (Rauch et al., 2001). WHO consider these vestibular changes as an important burden on health of population (World Health Organization, 2007).
Vestibular information, which provides information related to static and dynamic position in space is known to play a major role in balance. Better understanding of the effects of aging on the vestibular system can thus be beneficial in addressing risks of fall in an aging population (Cullen, 2012).
Most studies on age-related changes in vestibular function have focused on the semicircular canal function via measurement of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (Hajioff et al., 2000 & Baloh et al., 2001), but recently, the effect of aging on otolith organ function has been investigated (Furman & Redfern et al., 2001).
Although postural stability is dependent on input from multiple sensory systems (i.e., visual, somatosensory and vestibular), the otolith organs provide the primary vestibular contribution for postural control. Changes in postural stability are well documented in the elderly (Belal & Glorig, 1986) and recently studies demonstrated that age-related loss of otolith-ocular function is associated with increased postural sway (Serrador et al., 2009).