Short latency vestibular potentials evoked by electrical round window stimulation in the guinea pig

Abstract Short-latency potentials evoked by round window electrical stimulation were recorded in guinea pig by means of vertex-pinna skin electrodes using averaging techniques. Constant current shocks of 20 μsec or 50 μsec (25–300 μA) were used to evoke both auditory and vestibular brain-stem potentials. Pure auditory potentials, comparable to those evoked by acoustic clicks, were obtained by 20 μsec electrical stimuli and disappeared during an auditory masking procedure made with a continuous white noise (110 dB SPL). Short latency potentials labeled V 1 , V 2 and V 3 were obtained by 50 μsec electrical stimuli during an auditory masking procedure. This response disappeared after specific vestibular neurectomy, whereas the auditory response evoked by acoustic clicks or by electrical stimulation remained unchanged, suggesting that these latter potentials had a vestibular origin.