Gaëlle Quarck

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Caen Normandy

Background Bilateral vestibulopathy is a disorder characterized by significant impairments in vestibular function, leading to changes in the kinematics of standing body sway. While previous studies have demonstrated that observing paintings can influence postural control in healthy adults, the effects of such visual stimuli on individuals with BVP...

Introduction This study aimed to assess how individuals perceive the amplitude of passive body translation in microgravity and hypergravity. Methods Six subjects participated in parabolic flights aboard the Novespace A-310 Zero-G aircraft, performing tasks that involved linear translation ranging from 25 to 250 cm across different axes, all while...

During space missions, although many perceptual consequences can lead to mission-threatening errors, errors associated with misinterpretation of self-motion are perhaps among the most critical. Astronauts are routinely required to estimate their motion in order to complete mission tasks. This motion estimation may take place during extra vehicular...

Among the factors, such as emotions, that distort time perception, vestibular stimulation causes a contraction in subjective time. Unlike emotions, the intensity of vestibular stimulation can be easily and precisely modified, making it possible to study the quantitative relationship between stimulation and its effect on time perception. We hypothes...

This review attempts to analyze the relationship between the vestibular system and the circadian timing system. The activity of the biological clock allows an organism to optimally perform its tasks throughout the nychtemeron. To achieve this, the biological clock is subjected to exogenous factors that entrain it to a 24h period. While the most pow...

Subject 2_ seconds_static 2_seconds_40°S 1-5.66-4.89

Global sleep quality is declining, while it plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health. Various environmental, behavioral and individual characteristics, such as light exposure, physical activity, or room ambiance, influence sleep quality. This study aims to identify key determinants of sleep health and develop evidence-based recommendation...

The human vestibular system is adversely affected by the aging process. Recent evidence indicates that vestibular information and cognitive functions are related, suggesting that age-related vestibular loss may contribute to cognitive impairment. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of repetitive, home-based galvanic vestibular stimul...

Background Patients with breast cancer (BC) exhibit circadian rhythm disruptions, mainly of rest-activity rhythm (RAR), of which sleep is an essential component, and cortisol rhythm. Sleep complaints such as insomnia and cognitive impairments are prevalent in BC. In general population, sleep is known to contribute greatly to cognition. Thus, improv...

Lors d’une course au large, les marins sont exposés à une combinaison de facteurs extrêmes dont les répercussions sur la physiologie humaine sont peu étudiées. Quelques études ont montré qu’en moyenne 18 jours de course en mer entraînent une diminution du poids et de la force musculaire (1-2). Aucune étude ne s’est intéressée à l’impact d’une cours...

Among the lifestyle interventions, the physical activity (PA) has emerged as an adjuvant non-pharmacological treatment improving mental and physical health in patients with schizophrenia (SZPs) and increasing the hippocampus (HCP) volume. Previously investigated PA programs have been face-to-face, and not necessary adapted to patients’ physiologica...

Aging is characterized by substantial changes in sleep architecture that negatively impact fitness, quality of life, mood, and cognitive functioning. Older adults often fail to reach the recommended level of physical activity to prevent the age-related decline in sleep function, partly because of geographical barriers. Implementing home-based inter...

BACKGROUND. In a secondary analysis of data taken from a publicly available database, we examined cognitive performance, postural sway, and relations between them for four groups: younger and older individuals with versus without a recent history of falls. Our objective was to compare linear versus nonlinear measures of postural activity as post-ho...

Background Many patients treated for breast cancer (BC) complain about cognitive difficulties affecting their daily lives. Recently, sleep disturbances and circadian rhythm disruptions have been brought to the fore as potential contributors to cognitive difficulties in patients with BC. Yet, studies on these factors as well as their neural correlat...

Evaluation of postural control by analyses of linear and non-linear parameters in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy. Comparisons in patients with and without saccular function.

Introduction: Understanding the mechanisms and factors affecting balance control is crucial for improving postural control, particularly in older adults where the ability to maintain balance decreases and can be influenced by factors such as cognition, fear of falling, and physical conditions. Postural control is often evaluated by measuring the sp...

Introduction: Aging is often associated to impaired sleep, and older adults frequently report changes in bedtime, difficulties to fall asleep and increased time spent awake at night [1]. Sleep disturbances are related to negative consequences on well-being and daily activity [2]. In humans, the most powerful synchronizer for the biological clock is...

Introduction This study compares the balance control and cognitive responses of subjects with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) to those of astronauts immediately after they return from long-duration spaceflight on board the International Space Station. Methods Twenty-eight astronauts and thirty subjects with BVP performed five tests using the same p...

Introduction Adapted physical activity (APA) has beneficial neurobiological impact but the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain poorly described. APA is currently recognized as an adjuvant therapy to antipsychotic treatments in patients with schizophrenia (SCZs) to reduce the severity of negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. SCZs e...

Insomnia symptoms are common among patients with breast cancer (BC; 20–70%) and are predictors of cancer progression and quality of life. Studies have highlighted sleep structure modifications, including increased awakenings and reduced sleep efficiency and total sleep time. Such modifications may result from circadian rhythm alterations consistent...

We report a study on astronauts aimed at characterizing duration judgment before, during, and after long-duration stays on board the International Space Station. Ten astronauts and a control group of 15 healthy (non-astronaut) participants performed a duration reproduction task and a duration production task using a visual target duration ranging f...

While the influence of the vestibular and extra-vestibular gravity signals on the cardiovascular system has been demonstrated, there is little evidence that visual stimuli can trigger cardiovascular responses. Furthermore, there is no evidence of interaction between visual and vestibular signals in autonomic control, as would be expected since they...

Background: Aging is characterized by substantial changes in sleep architecture that negatively impact physical fitness, quality of life, mood or cognitive functioning. Older adults often fail to reach the recommended amount of physical activity to prevent the age-related decline sleep function, partly because of geographical barriers. Home-based i...

The present study aims to assess the influence of chronotype on lockdown‐induced effects on sleep and psychological outcomes. A total of 1671 participants were recruited in France and filled out online questionnaires about their sleeping hours and sleep quality, their chronotype (morning, intermediate, evening type), and their depressive, anxiety a...

We perceive the environment through an elaborate mental representation based on a constant integration of sensory inputs, knowledge, and expectations. Previous studies of astronauts on board the International Space Station have shown that the mental representation of space, such as the perception of object size, distance, and depth, is altered in o...

While the influence of the vestibular and extra-vestibular gravity signals on the cardiovascular system has been demonstrated, there is little evidence that visual stimuli can trigger cardiovascular responses. Furthermore, there is no evidence of interaction between visual and vestibular signals in autonomic control, as would be expected since they...

Background Older adults often fail to reach the recommended amount of physical activity to prevent the age-related decline in metabolic, cardiorespiratory, and muscular function. Effective home-based physical training programs could neutralize barriers preventing older adults from being active, and administration/supervision through videoconference...

Effet des différents programmes d’intervention à distance sur le sommeil et la qualité de vie de personnes âgées : protocole d’étude pour un essai contrôlé randomisé. Emma Milot, Stéphane Rehel, Antoine Langeard, Lucile Bigot, Florane Pasquier, Nicolas Bessot, Gaelle Quarck Introduction : Le vieillissement est associé à des modifications de diverse...

Background: older adults often fail to reach the recommended amount of physical activity to prevent the age-related decline in metabolic, cardiorespiratory and muscular function. Effective home-based physical training programs could neutralise barriers preventing older adults from being active, and administration/supervision through videoconferenc...

Introduction With aging, the risk of falling increases. It has been reported that fall frequency may depend on the time of the day, suggesting a possible circadian rhythm of postural control. The objective was to test whether postural control in older adults followed a circadian rhythm. Then, in order to examine the possible functions involved in...

Introduction: The day-night alternation, particularly the variations in light captured by the retina, directly stimulates the internal clock, synchronizing it over 24 hours (1). Therefore, light is often considered among the essential environmental contributions in controlling physiological functions (2). The different light exposure characteristic...

Background: Increased mortality and reduced life expectancy have been described in patients with schizophrenia (SZ), essentially due to low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and sedentary behavior. Otherwise, although antipsychotic drugs can improve positive symptoms, their beneficial effects on negative symptoms remain limited. Emerging evidences su...

Videoconference-based adapted physical exercise combines the benefits of supervised exercise training with staying at home, when conventional training is inaccessible. However, exercising with the use of a screen can be considered an optokinetic stimulation, and could therefore induce changes in sensory processing, affecting postural stability. The...

Introduction: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious eating disorder, characterized by low weight, food restriction and fear of gaining weight. In addition, anorexics often have other symptoms, such as sleep and psychological disorders (body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem), as well as excessive exercise and muscle strength imbala...

Patients with schizophrenia (SZ) have a high level of cardiovascular morbidity and some clinical symptoms of illness remain resistant to pharmacological approaches. A large number of studies support the effectiveness of physical activity (PA) in SZ. The aims of this trial is to assess the effects of a remote, web-based adapted PA program (e-APA) co...

Animal and human studies demonstrate anatomical and functional links between the vestibular nuclei and the circadian timing system. This promotes the hypothesis of a circadian rhythm of vestibular function. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vestibular function through the vestibulo-ocular reflex using a rotatory chair at different tim...

The vestibular system is responsible for sensing every angular and linear head acceleration, mainly during periods of motor activity. Previous animal and human experiments have shown biological rhythm disruptions in small rodents exposed to a hypergravity environment, but also in patients with bilateral vestibular loss compared to a control populat...

Input from the light/dark (LD) cycle constitutes the primary synchronizing stimulus for the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) circadian clock. However, the SCN can also be synchronized by non-photic inputs. Here, we hypothesized that the vestibular system, which detects head motion and orientation relative to gravity, may provide sensory inputs to sync...

Aerobatic flight is a challenge for the vestibular system, which is likely to lead to adaptive changes in the vestibular responses of pilots. We investigated whether aerobatic pilots, as individuals who experience intense vestibular stimulation, present modifications of the vestibular-ocular reflex, motion sickness susceptibility and intensity, vis...

Background. The study aimed to determine whether improved muscle strength after 12-weeks of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) of plantar and dorsiflexors could result in better limits of stability in older adults. Methods. Twenty-seven participants were divided into a control group and a neuromuscular home-based training group. The train...

This study assessed cardiovascular control during Head Down Neck Flexion (HDNF) in a group of patients suffering from total bilateral idiopathic vestibular loss (BVL) for 7 ± 4 years. Nine adult patients (age 53.6 ± 11.5 years) with BVL were recruited. Calf blood flow (CBF), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) were measured with eyes clos...

Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) is a non-invasive method used to stimulate the vestibular system. The vestibular system includes the sensors, neural pathways, vestibular nuclei and the cortical areas receiving integrated vestibular inputs. In addition to its role in postural control or gaze stabilization, the vestibular system is involved in...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2019.00014.].

Anxiety score and Graybiel score for time and session factors for all participants.

Les altérations physiologiques et fonctionnelles liées au vieillissement peuvent avoir un impact sur l’autonomie des personnes dans les activités de la vie quotidienne. Afin de prévenir et de limiter ces effets délétères, il est recommandé d’avoir une activité physique adaptée régulière. Cependant, l’accès à un entraînement efficace n’est pas toujo...

Objectives: Patients with schizophrenia (SZ) have dramatically higher levels of cardiovascular and metabolic morbidity than general population due to poor physical fitness and to sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, despite major therapeutic advances in the overall management of these patients, some symptomatic dimensions, and more specifically the negat...

Les patients atteints de schizophrénie ont un risque de morbi-mortalité cardiovasculaire et métabolique considérablement plus élevé que la population générale en raison de leur mauvaise condition physique et en lien avec leur mode de vie sédentaire. De plus, malgré des progrès thérapeutiques majeurs dans la prise en charge globale de ces patients,...

Purpose Psychological well-being and health are closely linked at older ages. It is widely recognized that adapted regular physical exercise improves drastically both the physical and emotional well-being and allows older adults to stay healthy longer, with a better quality of life. In the framework of a European project (MOTION) to increase the li...

Daytime activity is largely regulated by the day/night pattern. During the diurnal period individuals manage their balance, spatial orientation and consequently their perception of the vertical. Only six studies have attempted to evaluate postural control at different times of the day. The findings prove contradictory as two studies indicate postur...

Background: New insights have expanded the influence of the vestibular system to the regulation of circadian rhythmicity. Indeed, hypergravity or bilateral vestibular loss (BVL) in rodents causes a disruption in their daily rhythmicity for several days. The vestibular system thus influences hypothalamic regulation of circadian rhythms on Earth, wh...

The individual data points of participants. As explained in the journal instruction, this file provides the individual data points of participants for circadian rhythms, sleep and actigraphy. (XLSX)

ID: 236 / Poster session 06/06: 9 Poster Presentation Topics: Neuroscience research (including neurovestibular and neuroendocrine systems) Does the vestibular system influences circadian rhythmicity ? Tristan Martin1,2,3, Stéphane Besnard1,2,3, Damien Davenne1,2,3, Benoit Mauvieux1,2,3, Sébastien Moussay1,2,3, Jan Bulla4, Antoine Gauthier1,2,3, Pie...

Introduction: Despite its high incidence and severe morbidity, the physiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is still unknown. Here, we looked for early anomalies in AIS which are likely to be the cause of spinal deformity and could also be targeted by early treatments. We focused on the vestibular system, which is suspected of a...

Hypergravity disrupts the circadian regulation of temperature (Temp) and locomotor activity (Act) mediated through the vestibular otolithic system in mice. In contrast, we do not know if the anatomical structures associated with vestibular input are crucial for circadian rhythm regulation at 1G on Earth. In the present study we observed the effects...

Décrit classiquement comme l’organe de l’équilibre, le système vestibulaire (SV) aurait un rôle dans la régulation de la rythmicité biologique. C’est pour confirmer ce rôle que notre équipe a étudié l’impact de la suppression du SV chez le rat et chez l’homme et ensuite l’impact d’une stimulation vestibulaire sur les rythmes. Chez le rat, une lésio...

The vestibular system encoding head rotation velocity, linear acceleration and gravity level has recently been highlighted as a potential non-photic time cue for the circadian system when stimulated by centrifugation or after vestibular loss in rodent. However, it is still unknown in what extend it might interact with circadian rhythms in humans. T...

Spatial disorientation is defined as an erroneous body orientation perceived by pilots during flights. Limits of the vestibular system provoke frequent spatial disorientation mishaps. Although vestibular spatial disorientation is experienced frequently in aviation, there is no intuitive countermeasure against spatial disorientation mishaps to date....

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between olfaction and motion sickness. A sample of 18 participants was recruited and submitted to 3 sessions of nauseogenic stimulations, Off Vertical Axis Rotation (OVAR), performed under conditions of olfactory stimulation with limonene (pleasant odor), petrol (unpleasant odor) or distilled w...

Several studies have suggested that anxiety may play a role in motion sickness susceptibility (MSS) variability. This study aimed to assess motion sickness susceptibility in healthy subjects and chronic vestibular patients and to investigate its relationship to gender, age and trait-anxiety. Healthy subjects (n = 167) and chronic dizzy patients wit...

All living organisms have endogenous biological timing mechanisms that regulate behavior and physiology. These biological rhythms such as body temperature (Tb) are controlled both by endogenous master clock and synchronized by external factors such as light/dark cycle (LD cycle), physical and social activities. Others parameters such as gravity has...

In order to explore the effect of gaze orientation on whole-body rotation perception, ten healthy participants were rotated in the dark while fixating on a visual target located either straight ahead or 15 degrees to the right. A vestibular-memory contingent saccade paradigm was used to estimate the rotation perception. The results attest to the pa...

In order to determine the effect of figure skating on the functional plasticity of the vestibular system, we quantified vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and motion sickness (MS) intensity in 11 female figure skaters and 11 matched control subjects. Vestibular stimulation consisted of three cycles of sinusoidal rotation (0.025 Hz, +/-60 degrees /s) and...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether figure skaters, as individuals who experience intense vestibular stimulation, presented modification of the otolith-ocular reflex. The reflexes of 12 figure skaters were assessed using off vertical axis rotation (OVAR). Horizontal otolith-ocular reflex during OVAR is characterized by two parameters:...

Accurate measurement of beat-to-beat arterial blood pressure is essential for understanding the cardiovascular adaptation to weightlessness; however, the intra-arterial standard of beat-to-beat blood pressure measurement has never been used during space flight because of its invasive nature. The aim of the present study was to compare noninvasive r...

The effect of sleep deprivation on the vestibular function is largely unknown. Some studies have found that postural balance or vestibular reflexes are decreased in sleep-deprived subjects while others found no change. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sleep deprivation on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Horizontal eye movement...

The dynamic properties of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (canal-ocular reflex) in 15 gymnasts were compared with those of 27 control subjects. The gymnasts had an initial slow phase velocity which was lower (p<0.01, t-test) and a time constant of the vestibulo-ocular response which was shorter (p<0.05, t-test). These results show that the gymnasts, as...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the vestibular system in cardiovascular control in a varying gravito-inertial field induced by parabolic flight. We measured variations in arterial pressure and heart rate in eight awake rats, four of which had undergone bilateral labyrinthectomy 3 months previously. While the control rats showed he...