HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Akin, F. W. Articles by Murnane, O. D.

Clinical Assessment of Otolith Function

Vestibular/Balance Laboratory, VA Medical Center, Audiology (126), Department of Communicative Disorders, East Tennessee State University
Mountain Home, TN

Owen D. Murnane

Auditory Electrophysiology Laboratory, VA Medical Center Audiology (126), Department of Communicative Disorders, East Tennessee State University
Mountain Home, TN

The otolith organs (the saccule and utricle) are located in the inner ear and sense linear acceleration, head tilt, and gravity. Recently, the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) and the subjective visual vertical (SVV) have been described as clinical tests for otolith function. VEMPs are short latency electromyograms (EMG) evoked by high-level acoustic and vibratory stimuli recorded from surface electrodes over the tonically contracted SCM muscles (cervical VEMP) or extra-ocular muscles (ocular VEMP). The SVV is a psychophysical measure of the angle between perceptual vertical and true (gravitational) vertical and can be measured during unilateral centrifugation (off-axis eccentric rotation). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the clinical use and recent developments of the cervical VEMP, ocular VEMP, and SVV as tests of saccular and utricular function.