Vertigo is best described as which of the following sensations?

• A. Oscillopsia
• B. Vertigo
• C. Nystagmus
• D. Lightheadedness

Answer: (B)

Vertigo is the sensation of self-motion, typically a spinning or rotational feeling as if you or the surroundings are moving. This subjective sense of motion is what you’re identifying when someone says they feel vertigo. It’s not simply feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and it’s not describing eye movements or a visual illusion of the world moving.

Oscillopsia, on the other hand, is the perception that the environment or the visual scene is moving, often because the eyes cannot stabilize images during head movement. Nystagmus is an observable, involuntary eye movement that can accompany vertigo but is a sign the eyes are moving, not the person’s stated sensation. Lightheadedness is a nonspecific feeling of faintness or impending fainting, not a true spinning sensation.

So the sensation that defines vertigo is the sense that you or the room is spinning.