Established in 1991 by the late Drs. Bernard Cohen and Mingjia Dai, the Human Balance Laboratory of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is renowned for rigorous diagnostic testing of vestibular function (the sensory modality related to balance) and innovative research to develop new treatments for vestibular disorders. With an approach pioneered by Dr. Dai, the laboratory is now best recognized for treatment of mal de débarquement syndrome (MdDS), a chronic and debilitating balance disorder manifested by a persistent false sensation of non-spinning self-motion, such as rocking, swaying, bobbing, or being pulled in a particular direction. MdDS typically occurs following a prolonged exposure to motion during a voyage on a cruise ship or airplane, but unlike the commonly experienced disorienting sensation of after-motion, the condition is persistent and is accompanied by problems with concentration, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms. MdDS was considered untreatable until recently, however, the chance of a positive outcome improved significantly when Dr. Dai realized there was a connection between the illness and decades of basic science research involving both animals and humans, which were pioneered by many researchers in the laboratories of Dr. Cohen at Mount Sinai. The laboratory for people suffering from this condition is now under the direction of Dr. Sergei Yakushin, a Cohen laboratory alumnus whose career in the vestibular system spans over 40 years. Dr. Yakushin is joined by Dr. Jun Maruta, also a Cohen laboratory alumnus, in the effort to continue to develop and refine treatment methods for MdDS. The laboratory enjoys a close collaboration with Dr. Steven Rudolph, a neurologist at Mount Sinai as well as Dr. Catherine Cho of NYU Langone Health, who has been involved since the development of the Dai protocol for MdDS, and Dr. Theodore Raphan (recently retired from Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center), all of whom are Cohen laboratory alumni.
Contact:
Sergei Yakushin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Phone:
(212) 241-9349
Fax:
(646) 537-8919
Email:
Mailing address:
Department of Neurology, BOX 1135
1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029-6574
His career spanning over 40 years has tackled the vestibular system, starting with the Russian space program at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (Moscow, Russia) in the department of Neurophysiology, where they studied the adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR, a key component of the balance system) in microgravity. In 1991, he was invited to come to the United States to work on a NASA project in Dr. Bernard Cohen's laboratory at Mount Sinai. Discoveries from his earlier research proved foundational to the development of the VOR readaptation treatment for MdDS, a disorder now understood to result from maladaptation of the central vestibular system known as the velocity storage mechanism.
His research interests are in “smart” behaviors that feature the capacity to anticipate changes in the organism’s relationship to the environment as well as abnormal conditions that disrupt that capacity. The brain is an instrument that can create and maintain readiness to interact with the environment, i.e., an oriented state. The overarching goal of his research is to decode the information content and its processing mechanism that support such brain functions as balance, i.e., spatial orientation, and attention, i.e., cognitive orientation. MdDS is an illness characterized by spatial disorientation that is accompanied by physical, cognitive, and affective symptoms.
He is a clinical neurologist with earlier training in neuro-ophthalmology and neurophysiology, performing studies in the field of vestibular neurophysiology related to balance and the control of ocular movement. He has since then practiced stroke care for many years, during which he designed and implemented stroke unit protocols and directed stroke teams, participated in multiple clinical trials as a local investigator, and pioneered in the field of telemedicine for stroke. He continues to educate neurologists and nurses on disturbances of the vestibular system, which includes monthly lectures on dizziness to over 1000 nurses within Mount Sinai Health System annually. As a medical professional on our team, he serves a vital function for patients under treatment.
She is a Clinincal Professor of Neurology at New York University with expertise in vestibular disorders. She evaluates patients with conditions affecting the vestibular system such as MdDS, vestibular migraine, persistent postural perceptual dizziness (PPPD), benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV), Meniere’s disease, vestibular neuritis/labyrinthitis, other causes of episodic vertigo and maladaptive vestibular states. She has a special interest in studying the vestibulocerebellar basis of MdDS and motion sickness. She was involved in the original development of the treatment for MdDS using VOR readaptation with Dr. Dai and co-authored the MdDS diagnostic criteria formalized by the Bárány Society.
He is a computer scientist and neuroscientist with expertise in mathematical and statistical analysis, dynamical system theory, neural networks, and application of model-based studies to sensory motor and neural behavior. In the 1970s, he developed the velocity storage model of the VOR and has since been engaged in the model-based studies and analysis of vestibular and binocular oculomotor behavior of monkeys and humans, including MdDS.
She is a visiting researcher at our Human Balance Laboratory, originally an otolaryngologist with special interest in vestibular disorders, at The Institute of Science, Tokyo. Her research focuses on three-dimensional eye movement associated with vestibular physiology, and she is working together with the members of the laboratory to investigate the oculomotor manifestations of MdDS.
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