title: Age-related changes in ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials via galvanic vestibular stimulation and bone-conducted vibration modes.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The age-related changes in ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) elicited by galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and bone-conducted vibration (BCV) might be attributed to the morphological degeneration of the vestibular system.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study employed GVS and BCV modes for eliciting oVEMPs in healthy subjects to explore the effect of aging on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) pathway.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-nine healthy subjects (aged 22-69 years) were divided into 5 groups of 12-19 subjects by decades of age. All subjects underwent oVEMPs using GVS and BCV modes. The prevalence and parameters of oVEMPs, including nI latency, pI latency, nI-pI interval, and nI-pI amplitude were measured and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalences of GVS-oVEMPs had nonsignificant differences among all age groups, whereas that of BCV-oVEMPs in the over-60 group was significantly lower than those in the under-60 groups. In GVS-oVEMPs, the group over 60 years had significantly longer nI, pI latencies, and smaller amplitudes when compared with those under 60 years. In BCV-oVEMPs, the nI and pI latencies in the over-60 group were significantly longer than those of the under-60 groups, while the nI-pI amplitudes of groups over 50 years were significantly smaller than those of groups under 50 years. All oVEMP parameters exhibited significant differences between GVS- and BCV-oVEMPs in each age group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yi-Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Po-Wen
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D058585:Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult