Hemispheric asymmetries in the visual evoked potentials to temporal frequency: preliminary evidence

Steady-state evoked potentials were recorded in eight adult subjects from occipital and temporal leads of both hemispheres to investigate the effect of temporal frequency on the hemispheric specialization for basic visual information. A 3 cycles deg-1 grating was phase-reversed at different temporal frequencies (from 4 to 18 Hz), and the frequency spectrum of evoked potentials was computed by means of a fast Fourier transform program. Significant results were obtained for the component at twice the temporal frequency of stimulation. Occipital evoked potentials did not show hemispheric asymmetry, whereas temporal evoked potentials showed an interaction between hemisphere and temporal frequency: right and left hemispheres were respectively prominent for low (4 and 6 Hz) and for high (8-18 Hz) temporal frequencies. The results are discussed in the context of current research on hemispheric specialization for basic spatiotemporal parameters of visual information processing.