Visual Evoked Potentials
VEP vision test is a painless, safe, non-invasive way for your eye care provider to objectively measure the function of your entire vision system. When light from an image enters your eye, it is turned into electrical energy by cells in the retina – the light-sensitive layer at the back of your eye.
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:
- Loss of vision (this can be painful or non-painful)
- Double vision
- Blurred vision
- Flashing lights
- Alterations in color vision or
- Weakness of the eyes, arms or legs.
These changes are often too subtle or not easily detected on clinical examination in the doctor’s surgery. In general terms, the test is useful for detecting optic nerve problems. This nerve helps transfer signals to allow us to see, so testing the nerve allows the doctor to see how your visual system responds to light. The test is also useful because it can be used to check vision in children and adults who are unable to read eye charts.
The VEP measures the time that it takes for a visual stimulus to travel from the eye to the occipital cortex. It can give the doctor an idea of whether the nerve pathways are abnormal in any way. 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.
To schedule a Diagnostic Testing appointment at True North Neurology, please call 631-364-9119 click here below to request an appointment.
