Creative Commons License
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Date of Graduation
5-9-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Audiology (AuD)
Department
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Advisor(s)
Erin G. Piker
Christopher G. Clinard
Melissa Garber
Abstract
Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) measure function of the saccule and inferior vestibular nerve by evoking inhibitory electromyogram (EMG) responses from the sternocleidomastoid muscle using short duration stimulation. Previous research has shown that cVEMP amplitude increases relative to EMG target level and latency remains constant, yet there is little to no research demonstrating the relationship between EMG target level and cVEMP threshold. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of EMG activation on cVEMP thresholds and assess whether patients who generate larger tonic EMG during cVEMP testing have lower cVEMP thresholds. cVEMPs were recorded in 20 young, healthy participants between the ages of 19 to 27 years old using 500 Hz Blackman-gated tonebursts. Recordings were obtained to threshold in 5 EMG target level conditions: 150 µV, 100 µV , 50 µV , 30 µV , and 10 µV. The results of this study suggest that there is not a statistically significant effect of EMG target level on visually detected cVEMP thresholds.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Melanie, "Assessing the effects of EMG target levels on cVEMP thresholds" (2024). Dissertations, 2020-current. 148.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss202029/148
