Enhanced response obtainability with chirp stimulus in bone-conducted mVEMPs.

Area of Science:

• Vestibular Neuroscience
• Audiology
• Neurophysiology

Background:

• Vestibular function is assessed using masseter vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (mVEMPs) via the vestibulo-masseteric reflex.
• Tone burst (TB) stimuli are standard for mVEMPs, but narrowband chirp stimuli may enhance neural synchronization and response rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of narrowband level-specific (NB LS) chirp stimuli versus TB stimuli for bone-conducted mVEMPs.
• To evaluate differences in response obtainability, latency, and amplitude between the two stimulus types.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-five healthy participants (70 ears) underwent bone-conducted mVEMP testing.
• Stimuli included 500 Hz TB and 500 Hz NB LS chirp.
• Evaluated parameters were response rate, P1 and N1 latencies, and P1-N1 amplitude.

Main Results:

• The NB LS chirp stimulus yielded a significantly higher response rate (80.0%) compared to TB (42.9%) (p < 0.001).
• Chirp stimuli were 5.333 times more likely to elicit a response than TB stimuli (p < 0.001).
• Chirp stimuli resulted in significantly shorter latencies and higher amplitudes (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• NB LS chirp stimuli enhance bone-conducted mVEMP testing by improving response rates.
• Chirp stimuli demonstrate greater reliability and efficiency in vestibular assessment due to shorter latencies and increased amplitudes.