Vestibular contribution to memory processing

The vestibular system makes it possible to stabilize the head and body, spatial orientation, and gaze stability with processing of sensory inputs. There is much evidence that vestibular information is also involved in higher (cognitive) functions. For this purpose, in this article, we will review the impact of the vestibular system on memory as one of the cognitive functions. In this overview, the search for related articles in the Google Scholar, Pubmed, Springer and Scopus databases was conducted with the key words of the vestibular system, memory, and cognitive functions. A total of 123 articles were found in this field, but because of their lack of direct relevance to the subject, repetition and oldness, only 70 articles that were written between 1989 and 2017 were used.
Clinical and laboratory findings indicate the association of vestibular inputs (beyond postural control and oculomotor) with a variety of higher functions, especially memory. Since part of the memory function is determined by other cognitive processes (i.e., attention, understanding, performance, motivation), the study of the effect of vestibular inputs on these functions provides a more accurate view of how the vestibular inputs affect memory performance. Although current knowledge about memory-vestibular interactions is increasing, but why and how the vestibular signals are involved in memory representations is still limited and further studies are needed to determine the theoretical basis of vestibular involvement in the processing of memory.