Improving semantic recall from familiar faces with vestibular stimulation.

The accuracy of semantic retrieval following face recognition is a fundamental social skill and can have profound consequences. There is building evidence for the link between both memory and visual processing with the vestibular organs, yet the effects of vestibular stimulation on the processing of these types of information is significantly under investigated. The present study tested the effects of caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) on face familiarity decisions and semantic retrieval (nationality decisions) in sixty adults. Testing was in four sessions following a counterbalanced ABAB design. Relative to no stimulation, no benefits of CVS were observed for familiarity decisions but CVS significantly increased accuracy scores of nationality recall with no detriment to response times, suggesting vestibular contributions to high level cognitive processing. This study has immediate real-world value in settings such as teaching and criminal investigations.