The effects of rise/fall time and plateau time on ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) are strongly influenced by recording conditions and stimulus parameters. Throughout the published literature, a large variety of stimuli is used for eliciting oVEMP. Our objective was to determine the effects of different rise/fall times and plateau times on oVEMP amplitudes and latencies. 32 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. 500 Hz air-conducted tone bursts with the parameters rise–plateau–fall time 0–4–0, 4–0–4, 2–2–2 and 2–4–2 ms were used for eliciting oVEMP. For all stimuli, response prevalences were 100 %. The 4–0–4 ms stimulus generated the smallest amplitudes, whereas the 2–2–2 and 0–4–0 ms stimuli achieved the largest amplitudes. n1 and p1 latencies were significantly shorter for the 0–4–0 ms than for the other stimuli, whereas latencies in response to the 4–0–4 ms stimulus were prolonged. Hence, a variety of stimuli is suitable for evoking oVEMP in healthy subjects. We recommend a 2–2–2 ms stimulus for clinical testing of oVEMP elicited by air conducted sound, because it reproducibly generates oVEMP without exposing the ear to unnecessary amounts of acoustic energy.