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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Event-related Potentials During Target-response Tasks to Study Cognitive Processes of Upper Limb Use in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
Published on: January 11, 2016
OSP parameters and the cognitive component of reaction time to a missing stimulus: linking brain and behavior
Oscar H Hernández1, Muriel Vogel-Sprott
1Laboratorio de Neurobiología, Centro de Investigaciones en Enfermedades Tropicales and Carrera de Psicología, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Av. Agustín Melgar s/n entre Juan de la Barrera y calle 20. Col. Buenavista, c.p. 24039 Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. ohhernan@mail.uacam.mx
Abstract:
This within-subjects experiment tested the relationship between the premotor (cognitive) component of reaction time (RT) to a missing stimulus and parameters of the omitted stimulus potential (OSP) brain wave. Healthy young men (N=28) completed trials with an auditory stimulus that recurred at 2s intervals and ceased unpredictably. Premotor RT and Motor RT were measured on active trials that required an immediate response to a missing stimulus. Passive trials required no response in order to measure the complete set of OSP parameters (i.e., onset, rate of rise, amplitude and peak latency). The results showed that faster Premotor RT was strongly associated with a faster rate of rise in the OSP wave. Motor RT was unrelated the OSP parameters. This new evidence is consistent with the occurrence of some common cognitive processes generating behavioral and brain reactions to a missing stimulus.

