Question
How does hearing loss affect the VEMP responses?Answer
Hearing loss is independent of the VEMP. You can have a brick for a cochlea, and as long as the saccule and the inferior vestibular branch of the VIIIth nerve are healthy, you will measure a VEMP. That may be a difficult thing for us to visualize, because we associate any response to acoustic stimuli as a function of hearing. This is a matter of generating a loud acoustic signal to physically move the otolithic membrane, the organ of which we are testing. Remember that neither the signal or frequency characteristics of the signal itself make any difference in the recording.
Dr. Ackley is Director of Audiology at Gallaudet University and former department chair at the University of Northern Colorado and Associate Professor at Colorado State University prior to that. He had an electrophysiological assessment private practice in Colorado from 1987-2000, and he currently directs the Gallaudet Electrophysiology and Balance Center. He has done extensive research on vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) assessment of Deaf and hard-of-hearing subjects during his tenure at Gallaudet.