A Possible Role of Prolonged Whirling Episodes on Structural Plasticity of the Cortical Networks and Altered Vertigo Perception: The Cortex of Sufi Whirling Dervishes.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2017 Yusuf O Cakmak, Gazanfer Ekinci, Armin Heinecke et al.
Sufi Whirling Dervishes can spin continuously for an hour without experiencing vertigo, while a few minutes of spinning typically induces vertigo in healthy people. This unique long-term vestibular stimulation offers a model for understanding cortical networks that resist vertigo. Magnetic resonance imaging of 10 dervishes and 10 controls showed significantly thinner cortical areas in the dervishes, particularly in hubs of the default mode network and in motion perception and discrimination areas, including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right lingual gyrus, left visual area 5/middle temporal, and left fusiform gyrus. The findings suggest a relationship between motion/body perception cortical networks and the ability to whirl for prolonged periods without dizziness.