The Effect of Different Auditory Conditions on Pattern-Reversal Visual Evoked Potentials (PVEPs) in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Highlights What are the main findings? The baseline (silence) produced higher amplitudes than Quran recitation and music exposure at the 1° stimulation size in healthy adults. Stimulation size may influence the sensitivity of PVEP in detecting functional differences in the visual pathway, with significant correlation between BCVA and P100 amplitude observed during Quran recitation at 0.25°. What are the implications of the main findings? The findings suggest that the auditory environment must be standardized and reported during PVEP recording. The association between visual acuity and P100 amplitude during music exposure suggests that auditory conditions may interact with visual function when using small visual stimuli. Abstract Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different auditory conditions on pattern-reversal visual evoked potential (PVEP) responses among healthy adults. Methods: This repeated-measure design with a fixed baseline and randomized order of the two auditory conditions was conducted at the Retina Clinic, Ophthalmology Department, Tertiary Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Healthy adults with no systemic or ocular diseases aged 20–60 years were included. All participants underwent comprehensive visual and ocular assessment, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slit-lamp examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), screening audiometry, and a PVEP test conducted under three auditory conditions: silence, Quran recitation, and music exposure. P100 latency and amplitude were recorded using 1° and 0.25° stimulation sizes. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric statistics. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Significant differences in PVEP amplitude responses were observed across auditory conditions, particularly at the 1° stimulation size. The Friedman test demonstrated significant amplitude differences at the 1° stimulation size (χ2 = 16.379, p < 0.001), with silence producing adjusted significantly higher amplitudes compared with Quran recitation and music exposure (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003), respectively. Significant positive correlations were identified between BCVA and P100 amplitude at Quran exposure (r = 0.178, p < 0.05) only at the 0.25° stimulation size. Conclusions: The stimulus size can be sensitive in revealing auditory-related changes in different retinal areas of functional visual pathway alterations. In comparison to baseline (silence), which generally produces the highest amplitudes, both auditory conditions (Quran recitation and music) were associated with lower P100 amplitude, while no significant difference was observed between Quran recitation and music.