Speech in noise listening correlates identified in resting state and DTI MRI images.

This study presents an examination of the neural connectivity associated with processing speech in noisy environments, an ability that declines with age. We correlated subjects' speech-in-noise (SIN) ability with resting-state MRI scans and Fractional Anisotropy (FA) values from the auditory section of the corpus callosum, both with and without correcting for age. The results revealed that subjects who performed poorly on the right ear SIN test (QuickSIN, MedRx) had higher correlations between the primary auditory cortex and regions of the brain that process language.

The Influence of Motoric Maneuvers on Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (cVEMPs).

Background: The cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) is a vestibular response that is produced by the saccule in response to intense, often low-frequency, short-duration auditory stimuli, and is typically recorded from a contracted sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle. Previous research has shown that the amplitude of the cVEMP is related to the amount of SCM electromyographic (EMG) activity.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of various remote motoric maneuvers on the amplitude of the cVEMP, as well as whether they influence the level of SCM EMG activity.

Using Unidirectional Rotations to Improve Vestibular System Asymmetry in Patients with Vestibular Dysfunction.

The vestibular system provides information about head movement and mediates reflexes that contribute to balance control and gaze stabilization during daily activities. Vestibular sensors are located in the inner ear on both sides of the head and project to the vestibular nuclei in the brainstem. Vestibular dysfunction is often due to an asymmetry between input from the two sides.

Learning Effects and the Sensory Organization Test: Influence of a Unilateral Peripheral Vestibular Impairment.

Purpose: Healthy young controls exhibit a learning effect after undergoing repeated administrations of the sensory organization test (SOT). The primary objective of the present experiment was to determine if an SOT learning effect is present in individuals with a unilateral vestibular impairment (UVI), and if so, whether it is different from healthy controls. The secondary objective was to determine if the learning effect is dependent on the time frame of repeated SOT assessments.

The Influence of Caffeine on Rotary Chair and Oculomotor Testing.

Background: When patients are given instructions before vestibular function testing, they are often asked to refrain from ingesting caffeine 24 h before testing. However, research regarding the effects of caffeine on the outcome of vestibular function testing is limited.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the results from rotational chair tests are influenced by caffeine.

The influence of caffeine on the sensory organization test.

Background: Clinicians often request that patients refrain from consuming caffeinated beverages 24 h before vestibular function testing. However, there is limited research regarding how caffeine may affect the results of these tests. The sensory organization test (SOT) evaluates how well an individual is able to maintain his or her balance during several different conditions that manipulate vestibular, visual, or somatosensory information.

The influence of caffeine on calorics and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs).

Background: Prior to undergoing vestibular function testing, it is not uncommon for clinicians to request that patients abstain from caffeine 24 hr prior to the administration of the tests. However, there is little evidence that caffeine affects vestibular function.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the results from two tests commonly used in a clinical setting to assess vestibular function (i.

The auditory steady state response: far-field recordings from the chinchilla.

Objective: Previous studies in our lab have found that the presentation of multiple ASSR-generating stimuli results in a decrease in ASSR amplitude when recorded from an electrode implanted in the chinchilla inferior colliculus. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether this same effect occurs in far-field recordings, i.e.

The vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP): air- versus bone-conducted stimuli.

Objective: Several studies have evaluated the effects of different stimulus and recording parameters on the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP); however, it is difficult to directly compare these studies as they have all used different recording methods, different sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle contraction/electromyography monitoring methods, and different stimulus parameters.

Design: : This study made a direct comparison of the cVEMP in response to air-conducted (AC) and bone-conducted (BC) stimuli in the same subjects, using the same stimulus/recording/electromyography monitoring methods.

Results: We found that the input/output (I/O) functions were more linear in response to AC stimuli, whereas cVEMPs in response to BC stimuli began to saturate at the highest level.

Use of 64-channel electroencephalography to study neural otolith-evoked responses.

Background: The vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) is a myogenic response that can be used clinically to evaluate the function of the saccule. However, to date, little is known about the thalamo-cortical representation of saccular activation. It is important to understand all aspects of the VEMP, as this test is currently used clinically in the evaluation of saccular function.

The effects of a second stimulus on the auditory steady state response (ASSR) from the inferior colliculus of the chinchilla.

The auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is an auditory evoked potential which follows the envelope of the stimulus. One of the advantages of the ASSR is that multiple stimulation frequencies can be tested simultaneously. In experiment 1, we evaluated the effects of simultaneously presenting two separate stimuli on ASSR response amplitude.