127. Vestibular System Reactivity of Patients With Schizophrenia

Conventional caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS), which involves the irrigation of cold or warm water into the external ear canal, is commonly used in both otolaryngology to assess vestibular function and neurology to test brain stem function. Initial data from a prior CVS study by our group indicated individuals with schizophrenia have unexpectedly high reactivity to body temperature (37°C) CVS. However, we are unaware of any studies that have investigated the differential effects of CVS temperature gradients on individuals with schizophrenia versus healthy controls (HC). As such, we aimed to examine if individuals with schizophrenia have greater reactivity to vestibular stimulation than HC participants.