title: Vestibular evoked potentials (VsEPs) of cortical origin produced by impulsive acceleration applied at the nasion.
abstract: We report the results of a study to record vestibular evoked potentials (VsEPs) of cortical origin produced by impulsive acceleration (IA). In a sample of 12 healthy participants, evoked potentials recorded by 70 channel electroencephalography were obtained by IA stimulation at the nasion and compared with evoked potentials from the same stimulus applied to the forefingers. The nasion stimulation gave rise to a series of positive and negative deflections in the latency range of 26-72 ms, which were dependent on the polarity of the applied IA. In contrast, evoked potentials from the fingers were characterised by a single N50/P50 deflection at about 50 ms and were polarity invariant. Source analysis confirmed that the finger evoked potentials were somatosensory in origin, i.e. were somatosensory evoked potentials, and suggested that the nasion evoked potentials plausibly included vestibular midline and frontal sources, as well as contributions from the eyes, and thus were likely VsEPs. These results show considerable promise as a new method for assessment of the central vestibular system by means of VsEPs produced by IA applied to the head.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK, neil.todd@manchester.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Neil P M
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paillard
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kluk
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Colebatch
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012886:Skull / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult