• self-motion
• self-stability
• semicircular canal
• tinnitus
• utricular
• velocity storage integrator
• vestibular
• vibration induced nystagmus

• afferent fiber
• cVEMP
• sacculus
• semicircular canal (SCC)
• specificity
• utriculus
• vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP)
• vestibulocollic reflex

• hearing
• inner ear
• lizard
• otolith
• reptile
• saccule
• vibration sensitivity

• Animals
• Vibration
• Lizards/physiology
• Auditory Pathways/physiology
• Saccule and Utricle/physiology
• Hearing/physiology
• Rhombencephalon/physiology

• R01 DC019341 NIDCD NIH HHS

• burst spiking
• cell morphology
• cross‐modal modulation
• juxta‐cellular recording
• thalamic reticular nucleus

• Animals
• Rats
• Male
• Acoustic Stimulation
• Photic Stimulation/methods
• Electric Stimulation
• Rats, Wistar
• Neurons/physiology
• Auditory Perception/physiology
• Ventral Thalamic Nuclei/physiology
• Thalamic Nuclei/physiology
• Action Potentials/physiology
• Visual Perception/physiology

• JP17K07081 JSPS KAKENHI

• SVH
• SVV
• VEMPs
• binocular cyclorotation
• otoconia
• otolith receptors
• testing
• video ocular counter roll

• none Meier Capital

• Bone conduction
• Inner ear
• Otolith organs
• VEMP
• Vestibular function tests

• Humans
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials/physiology
• Electromyography/methods
• Practice Guidelines as Topic
• Vestibular Diseases/diagnosis
• Vestibular Diseases/physiopathology
• Vestibular Function Tests/methods

• Gait characteristics
• Galvanic vestibular stimulation
• Healthy participants
• Postural control
• Vibration-based vestibular stimulation

• Humans
• Postural Balance/physiology
• Vibration
• Gait/physiology
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Vestibule, Labyrinth/physiology
• Electric Stimulation
• Healthy Volunteers

• Reliability
• air-conducted sound
• bone-conducted vibration
• vestibular evoked myogenic potential

• Adult
• Humans
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials/physiology
• Reproducibility of Results
• Vibration
• Vestibule, Labyrinth

• CNQX
• VEMP
• compound action potential
• non-quantal
• otoliths
• resistive coupling
• sound
• vibration

• MQRF0001126 Macquarie University Research Fellowship

• animal models
• balance
• cVEMP
• cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential
• saccule
• vestibular loss
• vestibular physiology
• vestibular system

• I01 RX003532 RRD VA
• R01 DC019158 NIDCD NIH HHS
• UL1 TR002736 NCATS NIH HHS
• UM1 TR004556 NCATS NIH HHS
• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

• neuroscience
• physiology
• systems biology
• medical research

• Animals
• Guinea Pigs
• Bone Conduction/physiology
• Action Potentials
• Vestibule, Labyrinth/physiology
• Vibration
• Neurons, Afferent/physiology
• Mammals

• R01 DC006685 NIDCD NIH HHS
• R01 DC018919 NIDCD NIH HHS
• NIH DC 006685 NIH HHS
• Macquarie University
• National Institutes of Health

• SCD
• SVIN
• Tullio
• cVEMP
• dehiscence
• nystagmus
• oVEMP
• otolith
• semicircular canal
• sound
• vibration

• SVH
• Subjective visual horizontal/vertical
• Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
• cVEMP
• oVEMP

• Dynamic balance control
• Gait characteristics
• Healthy adults
• Mechanical vibration

• Humans
• Aged
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Postural Balance/physiology
• Vibration/therapeutic use
• Gait/physiology
• Physical Therapy Modalities

• developmental biology
• hair cell
• inner ear
• neuroscience
• supporting cell
• zebrafish

• Animals
• Humans
• Zebrafish/genetics
• Transcriptome
• Hair Cells, Auditory/physiology
• Ear, Inner
• Hair Cells, Auditory, Inner
• Mammals/genetics

• R35DE027550 NIDCR NIH HHS
• R21 DC019948 NIDCD NIH HHS
• F31DC020898 NIDCD NIH HHS
• 1R01HG010632 NHGRI NIH HHS
• F31DC020633 NIDCD NIH HHS
• R21DC019948 NIDCD NIH HHS
• T32DC005361 NIDCD NIH HHS
• T32DC009975 NIDCD NIH HHS
• UM1HG011586 NHGRI NIH HHS
• R01DC015829 NIDCD NIH HHS
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Hamilton and Mildred Kellogg Trust
• The Whitcraft Family Gift
• Hearing Health Foundation
• Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group
• National Human Genome Research Institute
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

• EEG rhythms
• caloric test
• cortex
• nystagmus
• vestibular function

As previously reported, a single test measuring oVEMP n10 to 4000 Hz stimuli (bone-conducted vibration (BCV) or air-conducted sound (ACS)) provides a definitive diagnosis of semicircular canal dehiscence (SCD) in 22 CT-verified patients, with a sensitivity of 1.0 and specificity of 1.0. This single short screening test has great advantages of speed, minimizing testing time, and the exposure of patients to stimulation. However, a few studies of the 4000 Hz test for SCD have reported sensitivity and specificity values which are slightly less than reported previously. We hypothesized that the rise time of the stimulus is important for detecting the oVEMP n10 to 4000 Hz, similarly to what we had shown for 500 and 750 Hz BCV. We measured oVEMP n10 in 15 patients with CT-verified SCD in response to 4000 Hz ACS or BCV stimuli with rise times of 0, 1, and 2 ms. As a result, increasing the rise time of the stimulus reduced the oVEMP n10 amplitude. This outcome is expected from the physiological evidence of guinea pig primary vestibular afferents, which are activated by sound or vibration. Therefore, for clinical VEMP testing, short rise times are optimal (preferably 0 ms).

Electric fields from both extremely low‐frequency magnetic fields (ELF‐MF) and alternating current (AC) stimulations impact human neurophysiology. As the retinal photoreceptors, vestibular hair cells are graded potential cells and are sensitive to electric fields. Electrophosphene and magnetophosphene literature suggests different impacts of AC and ELF‐MF on the vestibular hair cells. Furthermore, while AC modulates the vestibular system more globally, lateral ELF‐MF stimulations could be more utricular specific. Therefore, to further address the impact of ELF‐MF‐induced electric fields on the human vestibular system and the potential differences with AC stimulations, we investigated the effects of both stimulation modalities on the perception of verticality using a subjective visual vertical (SVV) paradigm. For similar levels of SVV precision, the ELF‐MF condition required more time to adjust SVV, and SVV variability was higher with ELF‐MF than with AC vestibular‐specific stimulations. Yet, the differences between AC and ELF‐MF stimulations were small. Overall, this study highlights small differences between AC and ELF‐MF vestibular stimulations, underlines a potential utricular contribution, and has implications for international exposure guidelines and standards. © 2022 Bioelectromagnetics Society.

• alternating current stimulation
• extremely low-frequency magnetic fields
• human vestibular system
• magnetic induction
• subjective visual vertical

• VEMP
• cVEMP
• detection algorithm
• inter-trial coherence
• neural synchrony
• otolith
• phase locking

Background: Although diagnostic criteria have been established for superior canal dehiscence syndrome, cases in which the diagnosis is not easy are frequent. On those occasions, some tests such as vibration-induced nystagmus or vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials can offer invaluable help due to their high sensitivity and specificity. Methods: We studied 30 patients showing superior canal dehiscence or “near-dehiscence” in a CT scan. Skull vibration-induced nystagmus and high frequency ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials are performed in each patient. The aim of the study is to determine how useful both tests are for detection of superior canal dehiscence or near-dehiscence. Results: Of the 60 temporal bones studied, no dehiscence was the result in 22, near-dehiscence in 17 and a definite finding in 21. In 10/30 patients, there was no SVIN (Skull vibration induced nystagmus) during otoneurological testing, while in 6/30, induced nystagmus was mainly horizontal, and in 14/30 there was vertical up-beating. All patients had a positive oVEMP (Ocular vestibular evoked myiogenic potentials) at 0.5 kHz in both ears and the HFoVEMP (High frequency ocular vestibular evoked myiogenic potentials) response was positive in 25/60 (41.6%) of the ears studied and in 19/30 of the patients evaluated (in 6 it was positive in both ears). Up-beat SVIN will point to a SCD (Superior Canal Dehiscence) mainly when HFoVEMP are present, and when this is negative there is a high probability that it is not a SCD. Conclusions: When SVIN and HFoVEMP results are added (or combined), they not only improve the possibilities of detecting SCD, but also the affected side.

• cVEMP
• nonlinearity
• otolith
• steady-state
• vestibular

• VEMP
• labyrinth
• otolith
• saccular
• semicircular canal
• utricular
• vestibular

Vibrational energy created at the larynx during speech will deflect vestibular mechanoreceptors in humans (Todd et al., 2008; Curthoys, 2017; Curthoys et al., 2019). Vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP), an indirect measure of vestibular function, was assessed in 15 participants who stutter, with a non-stutter control group of 15 participants paired on age and sex. VEMP amplitude was 8.5 dB smaller in the stutter group than the non-stutter group (p = 0.035, 95% CI [−0.9, −16.1], t = −2.1, d = −0.8, conditional R² = 0.88). The finding is subclinical as regards gravitoinertial function, and is interpreted with regard to speech-motor function in stuttering. There is overlap between brain areas receiving vestibular innervation, and brain areas identified as important in studies of persistent developmental stuttering. These include the auditory brainstem, cerebellar vermis, and the temporo-parietal junction. The finding supports the disruptive rhythm hypothesis (Howell et al., 1983; Howell, 2004) in which sensory inputs additional to own speech audition are fluency-enhancing when they coordinate with ongoing speech.

• VEMP
• own voice identification
• speech perception
• speech-motor control
• stuttering
• vestibular

• EEG
• neuro-otology
• vestibular cortex
• vestibular system
• vestibular-evoked potentials

• Agence Nationale de la Recherche

• superior semicircular canal dehiscence
• vestibular
• vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

• labyrinth
• otolith
• saccular
• semicircular canal
• utricular
• vemp
• vestibular

Background/Aim: the aim of this study was to assess the skull vibration-induced nystagmus test (SVINT) results and vestibular residual function after horizontal semicircular canal (HSCC) plugging. Methods: In this retrospective chart review performed in a tertiary referral center, 11 patients who underwent unilateral horizontal semicircular canal plugging (uHSCCP) for disabling Menière’s disease (MD) were included. The skull vibration-induced nystagmus (SVIN) slow-phase velocity (SPV) was compared with the results of the caloric test (CaT), video head impulse test (VHIT), and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) performed on the same day. Results: Overall, 10 patients had a strong SVIN beating toward the intact side (Horizontal SVIN-SPV: 8.8°/s ± 5.6°/s), 10 had a significant or severe ipsilateral CaT hypofunction, 10 had an ipsilateral horizontal VHIT gain impairment, and 3 had altered cVEMP on the operated side. Five had sensorineural hearing worsening. SVIN-positive results were correlated with CaT and horizontal VHIT (HVHIT) results (p < 0.05) but not with cVEMP. SVIN-SPV was correlated with CaT hypofunction in % (p < 0.05). Comparison of pre- and postoperative CaT % hypofunction showed a significant worsening (p = 0.028). Conclusion: SVINT results in a human model of horizontal canal plugging are well correlated with vestibular tests exploring horizontal canal function, but not with cVEMP. SVINT always showed a strong lesional nystagmus beating away from the lesion side. SVIN acts as a good marker of HSCC function. This surgical technique showed invasiveness regarding horizontal canal vestibular function.

• caloric test
• disabling Menière’s disease
• horizontal canal plugging
• skull vibration-induced nystagmus
• video head impulse test

• head impulses
• romberg test
• vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
• vestibular function

• Type II spiral ganglion neurons
• cochlear nucleus
• glutamate signaling
• granule cells
• outer hair cells

• Acoustic trauma
• Hyperacusis
• Metabolic pathways
• Metabolomics
• Rats
• Tinnitus

• Vertigo
• otology/neurotology
• vestibular system

• VEMP = vestibular-evoked myogenic potential
• labyrinth
• otolith
• semicircular canal
• utricular
• vestibular

Objective: To evaluate ocular and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs and cVEMPs) in patients with solely intracochlear localization of an intralabyrinthine schwannoma (ILS).

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of a series of cases.

Setting: Monocentric study at a tertiary referral center.

Patients: Patients with intracochlear schwannoma (ICS) and VEMP measurements.

Outcome Measures: Signed asymmetry ratio (AR) of cVEMPs and oVEMPs to air conducted sound with AR cut-offs considered to be asymmetrical when exceeding ±30% for cVEMPs and ±40% for oVEMPs with respect to the side affected by the tumor (reduced amplitudes on the affected side indicated by negative values, enhanced amplitudes by positive values); VEMP amplitudes and latencies; tumor localization in the cochlear turn and scala.

Results: Nineteen patients with a solely intracochlear tumor (ICS patients) [10 males, 9 females, mean age 57.1 (SD: 13.4) years] were included in the study. On the affected side, cVEMPs were absent or reduced in 47% of the patients, normal in 32%, and enhanced in 21%. Ocular VEMPs on the affected side were absent or reduced in 53% of the patients, normal in 32% and enhanced in 15%. Latencies for cVEMPs and oVEMPs were not significantly different between the affected and non-affected side. In all patients with enhanced VEMPs, the tumor was located in the scala tympani and scala vestibuli.

Conclusions: As a new and unexpected finding, VEMP amplitudes can be enhanced in patients with intracochlear schwannoma, mimicking the third window syndrome.

• VEMP
• asymmetry
• intracochlear
• intralabyrinthine
• secondary hydrops
• semicircular canal dehiscence
• third window
• vestibular schwannoma

Otolithic receptors are stimulated by gravitoinertial force (GIF) acting on the otoconia resulting in deflections of the hair bundles of otolithic receptor hair cells. The GIF is the sum of gravitational force and the inertial force due to linear acceleration. The usual clinical and experimental tests of otolith function have used GIFs (roll tilts re gravity or linear accelerations) as test stimuli. However, the opposite polarization of receptors across each otolithic macula is puzzling since a GIF directed across the otolith macula will excite receptors on one side of the line of polarity reversal (LPR at the striola) and simultaneously act to silence receptors on the opposite side of the LPR. It would seem the two neural signals from the one otolith macula should cancel. In fact, Uchino showed that instead of canceling, the simultaneous stimulation of the oppositely polarized hair cells enhances the otolithic response to GIF—both in the saccular macula and the utricular macula. For the utricular system there is also commissural inhibitory interaction between the utricular maculae in each ear. The results are that the one GIF stimulus will cause direct excitation of utricular receptors in the activated sector in one ear as well as indirect excitation resulting from the disfacilitation of utricular receptors in the corresponding sector on the opposite labyrinth. There are effectively two complementary parallel otolithic afferent systems—the sustained system concerned with signaling low frequency GIF stimuli such as roll head tilts and the transient system which is activated by sound and vibration. Clinical tests of the sustained otolith system—such as ocular counterrolling to roll-tilt or tests using linear translation—do not show unilateral otolithic loss reliably, whereas tests of transient otolith function [vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) to brief sound and vibration stimuli] do show unilateral otolithic loss. The opposing sectors of the maculae also explain the results of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) where bilateral mastoid galvanic stimulation causes ocular torsion position similar to the otolithic response to GIF. However, GVS stimulates canal afferents as well as otolithic afferents so the eye movement response is complex.

• otolith
• saccular
• utricular
• vemp
• vestibular

• VEMP
• cVEMP
• otolith
• steady state

• Electromyography
• Female
• Humans
• Signal-To-Noise Ratio
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials
• Young Adult

• Skull vibration-induced nystagmus
• vertical component
• vertical semicircular canal

• Bone conduction
• Otolithic membrane
• Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
• Vestibular neuritis
• Vibration

• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Humans
• Neurophysiology
• Otolithic Membrane
• Vestibular Diseases
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials
• Vibration

• Universitätsklinik München (6933)

Caloric stimulation of the vestibular system is associated with autonomic response. The lateralization in the nervous system activities also involves the autonomic nervous system.

To compare the effect of the right and left ear caloric test on the cardiac sympathovagal tone in healthy persons.

This self-control study was conducted on 12 healthy male volunteers. The minimal ice water caloric test was applied for vestibular stimulation. This was done by irrigating 1 milliliter of 4 ± 2 °C ice water into the external ear canal in 1 s. In each experiment, only one ear was stimulated. For each ear, the pessimum position was considered as sham control and the optimum position was set as caloric vestibular stimulation of horizontal semicircular channel. The order of right or left caloric vestibular stimulation and the sequence of optimum or pessimum head position in each set were random. The recovery time between each calorie test was 5 min. The short-term heart rate variability (HRV) was used for cardiac sympathovagal tone metrics. All variables were compared using the analysis of variance.

After caloric vestibular stimulation, the short-term time-domain and frequency-domain HRV indices as well as, the systolic and the diastolic arterial blood pressure, the respiratory rate and the respiratory amplitude, had no significant changes. These negative results were similar in the right and the left sides. Nystagmus duration of left caloric vestibular stimulations in the optimum and the pessimum positions had significant differences (e.g., 72.14 ± 39.06 vs 45.35 ± 35.65, P < 0.01). Nystagmus duration of right caloric vestibular stimulations in the optimum and the pessimum positions had also significant differences (e.g., 86.42 ± 67.20 vs 50.71 ± 29.73, P < 0.01). The time of the start of the nystagmus following caloric vestibular stimulation had no differences in both sides and both positions.

Minimal ice water caloric stimulation of the right and left vestibular system did not affect the cardiac sympathovagal balance according to HRV indices.

• Caloric stimulation
• Heart rate variability
• Vestibular system
• Autonomic
• Laterality

• Bone-conduction
• Cervicocollic reflex
• Neck stretch reflex
• VEMP
• Vibration

• calretinin
• calyx
• continuous noise
• sacculus
• vestibular

• Animals
• Calbindin 2
• Hair Cells, Vestibular/physiology
• Head Movements/physiology
• Neurons, Afferent/physiology
• Noise/adverse effects
• Physical Stimulation
• Presynaptic Terminals/physiology
• Rats
• Rats, Long-Evans
• Saccule and Utricle/injuries
• Saccule and Utricle/physiopathology
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials/physiology

• I01 RX001986 RRD VA
• R01 DC018003 NIDCD NIH HHS
• R21 DC015097 NIDCD NIH HHS

• Menière's disease
• central vestibular system
• neuroimaging
• positron emission tomography
• vestibular cortex

• Bone conduction
• Otolithic membrane
• Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials
• Vestibular neuronitis
• Vibration

• central nervous system
• functional neuroimaging
• labyrinth
• neurotology
• positron-emission-tomography
• vertigo
• vestibule