Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, have recently found that gravity sensors in the middle ear (otolith organs) play an important role in maintaining blood flow to the brain during movement. This work is supported by NASA ( 1, 2) and the NIH.

Brain magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging offers the potential for objective criteria in the differential diagnosis of multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) and Parkinson's Disease (PD). The goal of this study is to determine the usefulness of brain MRIs in the diagnosis of autonomic disorders.