Effect of Dance Training on Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials

Abstract

Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) is a clinical test for vestibular disorders and is deduced to be produced by the sacculo-collic reflex. VEMP is recorded from the ipsilateral tonically contracting sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle while monoaurally stimulating with loud short tone burst (STB) or click sounds. The present study was conducted with an aim of studying plasticity of the sacculocollic pathway in professional dancers who are receiving dance training. Two groups of subjects- control group and experimental group participated in the study. Experimental group was further subdivided in to two subgroups- Professional dancers who have received training in Kathak dance, and professional dancers who have received training in salsa dance. Experimental group consisted of total 20 subjects (40 ears), 10 (20 ears) in each subgroup. Control group consisted of 15 individuals (30 ears). Results revealed an enhancement of amplitude of P13, N23 and P13-N23, in professional dancers compared to the normal control group. Results however, did not reveal any significant difference for the latency of P13, and N23 peaks in the two groups. The difference in amplitude between the two groups was attributed to the sacculocollic pathway in dancers.