Frequency sensitivity range of the saccule to bone-conducted stimuli measured by vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
Creator
Sheykholeslami K; Kermany M H; Kaga K
Publisher
Hearing Research
Date
2001
2001-10
Description
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) occurring in cervical muscles after intense sound stimulation conducted by air or bone are thought to be a polysynaptic response of otolith-vestibular nerve origin. We report the results of an experiment to investigate whether acoustic stimulation of the saccule by bone conduction produces VEMPs in which response amplitudes are somewhat sensitive to stimulus frequency, as appears, to be the case with air-conducted stimuli. Prior to this we investigated the effect of stimulation repetition rate on bone-conducted VEMPs (B-VEMPs) at stimulus frequencies of 200 and 400 Hz with five different repetition rates (5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 Hz). B-VEMPs were recorded from 12 normal hearing subjects in response to bone-conducted 70 dB (normal hearing level), 10-ms tone bursts (rise/fall time = 1 ms and plateau time = 8 ms) at frequencies of 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 Hz. Our study showed that B-VEMP amplitudes were highest at 10 Hz but decreased as the repetition rate increased. B-VEMP response amplitudes were found to be maximal for stimulus frequencies from 200 to 400 Hz. This response may contribute to the perception of loud sounds. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
The otolithic organ as a receptor of vestibular hearing revealed by vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials in patients with inner ear anomalies.
Creator
Sheykholeslami Kianoush; Kaga Kimitaka
Publisher
Hearing research
Date
2002
2002-03
Description
The human vestibule has preserved an ancestral sound sensitivity and it has been suggested that a reflex could originate from this property underlying cervical muscle micro-contractions secondary to strong acoustic stimulation. Previous studies have established that an early component of loud sound-evoked myogenic potentials from the sternocleidomastoid muscle originate in the vestibule. This is based on findings that the response can still be obtained from patients with complete loss of cochlear and vestibular (semi-circular canal) function. Our data confirm, in a more direct way, a saccular origin of this short-latency acoustic response and verifies that a saccular acoustic response persists in the human ear. The contribution of this response to the perception of loud sounds is discussed. It is concluded that vestibular response to sound might be used to assist in the rehabilitation of deafness.