Vestibulo-ocular reflex testing in peripheral vestibular disorders

The present study was conducted to evaluate the vestibulo-ocular reflex [VOR] using rotary chair. A new chair concept generating dynamic stimuli by alternating rotations in the horizontal plane of the chair's seat was recently developed. Twenty-five adult subjects suffering from variable peripheral vestibular lesions, proved by caloric testing, participated in the study. Eleven healthy normal adults served as controls; gender and age matched to the study group. Results of rotational sinusoidal harmonic acceleration [SHA] testing showed gain reduction at lower frequencies of rotation with improvement of gain at higher frequencies. Meanwhile, phase and symmetry parameters remained normal at all frequencies. Findings of SHA testing in the present study suggest the presence of a certain degree of compensation. This reflects remaining vestibular function, which could be utilized in vestibular rehabilitation

Study of P300 cognitive event related potentials in adult stutterers

This study investigated possible differences between adult stutterers and non-stutterers in P300 event- related potential. Twenty-seven adult right-handed stutterers and fifteen normal adult subjects were included. Both groups exhibited right-left asymmetry as regards P300 amplitude. Right ear showed higher P300 amplitude in both groups. In the left ear, stutterers showed prolonged latency and higher amplitude in P300 wave more than non-stutterers. This study supports the opinion of the existing brain changes in stutterers that could be studied by event related potentials. Further cognitive event-related studies are needed to compare between linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli to reveal more knowledge about brain changes occurring in stutterers