Contribution of the eighth nerve and cranial nerve nuclei to the short-latency vestibular evoked potentials in cats

The object of this study was to assess the contributions of the vestibular nerve and various cranial nerve nuclei to the short-latency vestibular evoked potentials in cat. The following nuclei were investigated: vestibular nuclei and the third, sixth, and tenth cranial nerve nuclei. In unilateral labyrinthectomized cats, we performed suboccipital craniectomy and partial cerebellectomy to place bipolar electrodes into the neural structures under investigation. The surface-recorded vestibular evoked potentials (far field) were compared with the potentials recorded intracranially in response to the same acceleration impulses. The exact locations were later confirmed histologically. Reversible lesions also were induced by injection of lidocaine 2%. The results indicate that the first wave of the vestibular evoked potentials originates in the vestibular nerve, and the second wave is mainly generated in the superior and medial vestibular nuclei. The third, sixth, and tenth cranial nerve nuclei apparently contribute to the later waves of the vestibular evoked potentials, particularly waves 3 and 4.