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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the effects of gender and age on the vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP).

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Sixty healthy adult volunteers (28 male and 32 female) were investigated in this study. The subject age was distributed between 20 and 77 years old.

RESULTS: No gender-related differences were detected in the VEMP. There was a significant correlation between age and both the evoking threshold and the pInII amplitude of the VEMP, whereas no significant correlation was observed between age and left-right differences of the VEMP.

CONCLUSIONS: The correlation between age and the parameters of the VEMP is presumably secondary to age-related functional changes in the sensory and neural elements of the VEMP. It is safe to evaluate the VEMP using the value of the non-affected side when assessing unilateral lesions. However, it may be necessary to take age into account in evaluating the VEMP when bilateral lesions are suspected.

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Age-Related Changes in the Vestibular-Evoked Myogenic Potentials

Abstract

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