Vestibular system: anatomy and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

In this article, the authors present evidence that the multisensory parietoinsular cortex in humans is involved in perceiving both verticality and self-motion. This evidence is based on (a) lesional studies in patients who have acute unilateral infarctions and (b) positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence of cerebral activation by use of vestibular caloric stimulation, galvanic stimulation, and optokinetic stimulation.