Masseter vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials at different tone burst frequencies in healthy individuals

BackgroundMasseter vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (mVEMP) are vestibular-dependent inhibitory reflex recorded using acoustic stimulus. mVEMP can assess important brainstem regions. mVEMP abnormalities have been reported in patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and idiopathic random eye movement disorder. The objective of the study was to record mVEMP using tone-burst stimulus at different frequencies in young healthy individuals.MethodThe study used normative study design. Thirty-two participants, aged 18-28 years with normal hearing and balance function, were recruited for the study. Simple random sampling was used for selection of participants.Data collection and analysismVEMP was recorded for all the individuals at 500 Hz,750 Hz,1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, and 4000 Hz tone burst stimuli. The p11 and n21 peaks were identified. The latency of the p11 and n21 peaks and the rectified amplitude of the p11-n21 peak complex were measured for all the participants. Wilcoxson signed-rank test was used for statistical anlysis.ResultsThe study found a 100% response rate and higher amplitude for 500 Hz and 750 Hz tone burst stimuli. However, Wilcoxson signed-rank test with Bonferroni correction showed no significant difference in amplitude (p = 0.92) between 500 and 750 Hz.ConclusionThe study recommends 500 Hz/750 Hz tone burst stimuli as an optimal frequency for recording mVEMP in young, healthy individuals. However, seeing the frequency-tuning characteristics of mVEMP in other peripheral vestibular pathologies would be interesting.