Otolithic evoked potentials: a new technique for vestibular studies.

Evoked potentials, EP, are time-locked electroencephalographic voltages bearing temporal relation to an excitatory stimulus, recorded by scalp electrodes and an averaging computer. This paper reports the first apparent recording of otolithic EP. Thirty-nine students on a tilt table underwent head drop conditions stimulatory to the otolithic maculas. The wave-form obtained resembles neither auditory, visual, somatosensory or semicircular EP. Otolithic EP provide heretofore unavailable insights into the electrophysiology of the macular generators, VIII nerve, and related central processing.