Effect of white noise on vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

To clarify if p13-n23 of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) is independent of cochlear afferents.

Twenty normal volunteers and 10 patients with hemifacial palsy enrolled into this study. VEMP and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were recorded with or without white noise (WN, 75 dBnHL or 95 dBnHL) ipsilaterally or contralaterally to the stimulated ear. Short tone bursts (STBs) of 0.5 kHz (95 dBnHL, rise/fall time=1 ms, plateau time=2 ms) were presented though headphones. For recording VEMPs surface electromyographic activity was recorded in the supine subjects form symmetrical sites over the upper half of each SCM with a reference electrode over the upper sternum.

The amplitude of p13-n23 significantly decreased during exposure of the contralateral ear as well as the ipsilateral ear to 95 dBnHL WN in normal volunteers (41% reduction by the ipsilateral exposure and 38% reduction by the contralateral exposure). Exposure to 75 dBnHL WN caused only minimal reduction of the amplitudes of p13-n23 (5% reduction) although it caused remarkable reduction of the amplitudes of V-SN(10) (ABRs) (23% reduction). However, 95 dBnHL WN exposure showed no effect on the amplitudes of p13-n23 in the ipsilateral side to hemifacial palsy.

Overall the data are in favor of the hypothesis that cochlear afferents could affect the amplitude of p13-n23 only through the stapedial reflex, although our data might not be strict proof of an absence of influence of cochlear afferents' activity.