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Peripheral Vestibular
Cervical nystagmus (head-on-body rotation)
Cervico-vestibular afferents; controversial entity, occasionally seen after cervical trauma or proprioceptive cervicogenic input
Live animation
Fast-phase: → right-beating horizontal · fatigable · latency 1.5s
Gaze directionprimary
← 40° LEFTPRIMARY40° RIGHT →
Slide to test Alexander's law (peripheral), gaze-evoked patterns, or the null zone (congenital).
Position-over-time tracing
Live strip-chart. Horizontal, vertical, and torsional channels.
In a sentence
Low-amplitude horizontal jerk nystagmus elicited or modulated by rotating the body on a stationary head (or vice versa). Beats away from the side of rotation; resolves with neutral neck position.
Clinical pearls
- ◆Tested by fixing the head with the body rotated en-bloc (e.g., trunk turned 60° while head is held stationary) — isolates cervical afferents from labyrinthine signaling.
- ◆Most clinicians regard isolated cervical nystagmus as a research finding; it is rare as an isolated bedside sign and easily confused with peripheral vestibular nystagmus modulated by head position.
- ◆Reported in post-whiplash, chiropractic-injury, and craniocervical-junction lesion contexts.
- ◆Should not be diagnosed until BPPV, peripheral vestibulopathy, and central causes have been excluded.
Common associations
- Cervical trauma / whiplash (controversial)
- Craniocervical-junction anomalies
- After cervical fusion surgery (rare)