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Date of Graduation
5-15-2025
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Doctor of Audiology (AuD)
Department
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
First Advisor
Erin Piker
Second Advisor
Christopher Clinard
Abstract
Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) are produced by highly synchronous bursts of extraocular muscle activity in response to stimuli. These responses reflect utricular function and can be recorded using surface electromyography electrodes. Traditional analysis of oVEMPs is limited to time-domain waveform measurements, such as amplitude and latency of response peaks. Objective synchrony-based measures have not yet been applied to the analysis of oVEMPs, particularly in the comparison of synchrony across gaze angles. We followed the new time-frequency method of analysis developed by Clinard et al. (2022) that was successfully applied to cervical VEMPs to quantify response synchrony. Air-conducted oVEMPs were recorded from twenty-one young, healthy participants at a neutral gaze and +30° gaze angle using a 500 Hz tone burst. Responses were analyzed using intertrial coherence and compared between gaze angles. Analysis of intertrial coherence was successfully applied to oVEMPs. Response latency and amplitude behaved as expected in the two gaze conditions. ITC values increased with upward gaze. Mean ITC increased an average of 0.103 (std. err. = 0.03) and 0.175 (std. err. = 0.04) for the left and right ears, respectively, in the upward gaze condition While conventional time-domain measures do not accurately quantify response synchrony, ITC can be used to assess response synchrony across each time-frequency point. If applied to diverse patient populations, changes in oVEMP synchrony may become an important parameter in the vestibular test battery.
Included in
Otolaryngology Commons, Speech and Hearing Science Commons, Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons
