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Visual Evoked Potentials (VEP)

Visual Evoked Potentials (VEP)

What is a visual evoked potential? (VEP)

A visual evoked potential is an evoked potential caused by a visual stimulus, such as an alternating checkerboard pattern on a computer screen. Responses are recorded from electrodes that are placed on the back of your head and are observed as a reading on an electroencephalogram (EEG). These responses usually originate from the occipital cortex, the area of the brain involved in receiving and interpreting visual signals.

When is the VEP used?

A doctor may recommend that you go for a VEP test when you are experiencing changes in your vision that can be due to problems along the pathways of certain nerves. Some of these symptoms may include:

  1. Loss of vision (this can be painful or non-painful);

  2. Double vision;

  3. Blurred vision;

  4. Flashing lights;

  5. Alterations in colour vision;

  6. Weakness of the eyes, arms or legs.

In general terms, the test is useful for detecting optic nerve problems. For example, in multiple sclerosis, the insulating layer around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord (known as the myelin sheath) can be affected. This means that it takes a longer time for electrical signals to be conducted from the eyes, resulting in an abnormal VEP. A normal VEP can be fairly sensitive in excluding a lesion of the optic nerve, along its pathways in the anterior part of the brain.

The test is also useful because it can be used to check vision in children and adults who are unable to read eye charts.