ArticleCurrent biology : CB2011
MRI magnetic field stimulates rotational sensors of the brain.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06062368 (Reducing Vertigo Associated With MRI Machines), which is not on this map. Cited by 81 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Reducing Vertigo Associated With MRI Machines
Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 189 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuroimaging of the periaqueductal gray: state of the field.NeuroImage · 2012Pooled it
- Classification of vestibular signs and examination techniques: Nystagmus and nystagmus-like movements.Journal of vestibular research : equilibrium & orientationGuideline
- Static Magnetic Field Stimulation over Parietal Cortex Enhances Somatosensory Detection in Humans.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2017Trial
- Static Magnetic Field Stimulation over the Visual Cortex Increases Alpha Oscillations and Slows Visual Search in Humans.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2015Trial
- On the vertigo due to static magnetic fields.PloS one · 2013Trial
- Motion-induced fields near an idealized actively shielded MRI magnet: a reproducible reduced-order framework for scaling and sensitivity from 1.5 to 7 T.Magma (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- MRI and Implant Safety at Low-Field and Ultralow-Field Strengths.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2026Review
- Neural correlates of vestibular adaptation in cosmonauts after long duration spaceflight.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Radiology nurses' awareness of MRI-induced vertigo in patients and their perspectives on post-examination care in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Induction of Extremely Severe Nausea via Vestibular Activation on a 7 Tesla MRI Scanner.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2025Article
- Modeling of magnetic vestibular stimulation experienced during high-field clinical MRI.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Nystagmus in Clinical Practice: From Diagnosis to Treatment-A Comprehensive Review.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- Induced electric fields in MRI settings and electric vestibular stimulations: same vestibular effects?Experimental brain research · 2024Review
- Sustained bias of spatial attention in a 3 T MRI scanner.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Decrease of 7T MR short-term effects with repeated exposure.Neuroradiology · 2024Article
- Implementation of a 7T Epilepsy Task Force consensus imaging protocol for routine presurgical epilepsy work-up: effect on diagnostic yield and lesion delineation.Journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Magnetic field, nystagmus and serendipity.Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale · 2023Article
- Behavioral and neural responses to high-strength magnetic fields are reduced in otolith mutant mice.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2023Article
- Scaling the mountains: what lies above 7 Tesla magnetic resonance?Magma (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Effect of Acoustic fMRI-Scanner Noise on the Human Resting State.Brain topography · 2023Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Vertigo in and around magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines has been noted for years [1, 2]. Several mechanisms have been suggested to explain these sensations [3, 4], yet without direct, objective measures, the cause is unknown. We found that all of our healthy human subjects developed a robust nystagmus while simply lying in the static magnetic field of an MRI machine. Patients lacking labyrinthine function did not. We use the pattern of eye movements as a measure of vestibular stimulation to show that the stimulation is static (continuous, proportional to static magnetic field strength, requiring neither head movement nor dynamic change in magnetic field strength) and directional (sensitive to magnetic field polarity and head orientation). Our calculations and geometric model suggest that magnetic vestibular stimulation (MVS) derives from a Lorentz force resulting from interaction between the magnetic field and naturally occurring ionic currents in the labyrinthine endolymph fluid. This force pushes on the semicircular canal cupula, leading to nystagmus. We emphasize that the unique, dual role of endolymph in the delivery of both ionic current and fluid pressure, coupled with the cupula's function as a pressure sensor, makes magnetic-field-induced nystagmus and vertigo possible. Such effects could confound functional MRI studies of brain behavior, including resting-state brain activity.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.