Vestibular Neurology, Dizziness & Vertigo

Dizziness, vertigo, imbalance, motion sensitivity, visual instability, and spatial disorientation can arise from dysfunction anywhere across the vestibular system—from the vestibular labyrinth and vestibular nerve through the brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, cerebral cortex, ocular motor pathways, autonomic nervous system, and interconnected multisensory networks. Dr. Funk goes beyond simply diagnosing “vertigo.” He determines whether dysfunction is peripheral, central, or multisystem and localizes the specific structures, neural pathways, and networks involved.

Dr. Funk integrates detailed neurological examination with vestibular, neuro-otological and oculomotor testing, video-guided infrared oculography, neuroimaging, autonomic findings, advanced laboratory testing, and other objective diagnostics. This advanced neurological localization helps identify and differentiate vestibular migraine, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular neuritis, peripheral and central vestibular dysfunction, post-traumatic vestibular disorders, autoimmune and neuroimmune causes of dizziness, vascular and cerebrovascular causes of dizziness and vertigo, dysautonomia-related dizziness, and complex presentations involving overlapping vestibular, ocular motor, autonomic, migraine, vascular, immune, or brain-injury mechanisms.

Patients may also arrive with previous diagnoses that do not fully explain their symptoms, including persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and other potentially incorrect or incomplete diagnoses. Rather than accepting a prior diagnostic label as the endpoint, Dr. Funk re-evaluates the neurological presentation from the ground up, searching for identifiable structural, neurological, vestibular, ocular motor, autonomic, vascular, neuroimmune, and other organic abnormalities. This advanced evaluation can uncover recognized neurological diagnoses, overlooked comorbidities, and specific sites of dysfunction that may have been missed, misdiagnosed, or misattributed to PPPD or another previous diagnosis.

Dr. Funk brings an unusually advanced level of neurological training to vestibular rehabilitation. Most clinicians who provide vestibular rehabilitation are not board-certified neurologists and have not completed eight years of postdoctoral neurological residency and subspecialty education. Dr. Funk evaluates vestibular dysfunction within the larger neurological framework in which the vestibular system actually operates—not as an isolated balance system.

His expertise across multiple neurological subspecialties allows him to integrate Vestibular Neurology seamlessly with Neuro-Ophthalmology, Brain Injury Medicine, Dysautonomia, Neuroimmunology, Vascular Neurology, Neuroimaging, Movement Disorders, and other relevant fields. A vestibular abnormality may originate in the labyrinth or vestibular nerve, but dizziness and vertigo can also arise from dysfunction involving the brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, cerebral cortex, ocular motor system, autonomic pathways, vascular system, immune system, or distributed neural networks. Dr. Funk identifies these relationships and localizes the dysfunction within this broader neurological architecture.

That localization directly determines treatment. Dr. Funk does not rely on generic bilateral habituation or one-size-fits-all gaze-stabilization protocols. He uses highly individualized—often asymmetric or unilateral—vestibular stimulation to rebalance and reconnect the affected vestibular pathways and neural networks wherever the dysfunction or injury lies.

During rehabilitation, Dr. Funk dynamically monitors vestibular function through video-guided infrared oculography, eye-movement analysis, head and body position, balance responses, and other neurological findings. He rapidly modifies the side, direction, intensity, and type of vestibular stimulation according to the patient’s objective neurological response—even switching the side of stimulation from one session to the next. Treatment may incorporate precisely selected vestibular caloric stimulation, gaze and ocular motor rehabilitation, neuro-optometric rehabilitation, balance and sensory-integration therapies, and other targeted neuromodulation.

This transforms vestibular rehabilitation from generic symptom habituation into sophisticated, patient-specific neurological rehabilitation. Dr. Funk uses vestibular stimulation as a precise form of neuromodulation—targeting the specific structures, pathways, and neural networks he identifies and driving neuroplastic change according to each patient’s neurological findings and response.