Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials Elicited by Multifrequency Pattern-Reversal Stimulation

It has been shown that multifrequency stimulation with multifocal electroretinography can reduce recording time without a loss in signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we studied the applicability of multifrequency stimulations for steady-state visually evoked potential (VEP) recordings.

Multifrequency VEPs were recorded monocularly from 10 healthy subjects using pattern-reversal stimuli. The reversal frequency varied between 5 and 30 Hz. Pattern-reversal checkerboard stimuli were generated using four square arrays, each containing 100 light-emitting diodes (LEDs), positioned in four quadrants. Each array had a temporal frequency that differed slightly from the nominal frequency. The long duration of the data acquisition ensured that the slightly different stimulus frequencies in the four LED arrays can be resolved and that the responses to the stimulus in each array can be distinguished (e.g., with a frequency resolution: 0.011 Hz at 12 Hz). The best response from the four recording electrode configuration, defined as the recording with the maximal signal-to-noise ratio, was used for further analysis. Algorithmic latencies were calculated from the ratio of phase data and frequencies in a range of 4 and 20 Hz.

Quadrant-VEPs with simultaneous pattern-reversal stimulation yielded a significant dependency on temporal frequency and stimulus location. The frequency range leading to the maximal response amplitude was between 10 and 12 Hz. Response phases decreased approximately linearly, with increasing temporal frequency suggesting a mean algorithmic latency between 112 and 126 ms.

Multifrequency stimulation using LED arrays is an efficient method for recording pattern-reversal VEPs while all stimuli are presented at the same time.

Simultaneously recorded VEPs as performed by the multi-frequency method can be used for objective measurements of visual field defects.