Deep retroinsular and parieto-opercular origin of vestibular symptoms: a stereoelectrocenphalography (SEEG) study

•The word vertigo can be used for different feelings.•Among them illusions of body movements correspond to a disturbance of self location.•They can be elicited when stimulating different cortical areas.•Among them we outlined the role of retroinsular and parietal operculum areas. Several studies have shown that the retroinsular and posterior parietal operculum regions play a central role in vestibular processing. Electrical stimulations performed during stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) in patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy could contribute to the analysis of this area. Among the 264 SEEGs performed in both an adult and a paediatric epilepsy surgery centre, we retrospectively identified 24 patients (9%) reporting vertigo during electrical stimulations (ES). In seven of them (29% of patients experiencing vertigo during ES), it was evoked by stimulating the retroinsular region. The reported responses were mostly not rotatory sensations but actually illusions of body, limb or limb segment movement. The involved area is limited. Moreover, two patients reported having the same symptoms at the beginning of their seizures starting in the same region. Our case study confirms the pivotal role of the retroinsular and posterior parietal operculum areas in vestibular responses, and we therefore advise the exploration of this region when patients report an illusion of body movement at the beginning of their seizures.