Impact of eye-dominance on pattern reversal visual evoked potentials

Background and Objectives: Ocular dominance refers to the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye to the other and is found in majority of the individuals. The role of eye dominance as one of the confounding physiologic variables affecting the PRVEP (pattern reversal visual evoked potential) responses needs to be evaluated. Hence, the present study was planned to assess the influence of eye dominance on the PRVEP records in the healthy subjects. Methods: The study was conducted on 52 healthy subjects in the age group of 18-65 years. Eye dominance was measured by Miles test and Porta test. PRVEP parameters were compared and analysed between the two eyes among the right eye and left eye dominant subjects by paired t-test. Results: 69% of the subjects were right eye dominants while 29% were left eye dominants. PRVEP mean P100 latency decreased and mean N75-P100 amplitude increased statistically significantly in the dominant eyes in both right and left eye dominant subjects. Conclusion: PRVEP records are influenced by eye dominance. One should take into account the effect of eye dominance while comparing the VEPs of two eyes of the same subject. Clinical interpretation should be done on the basis of the eyedominance matched normal subjects.