Evoked potential latencies as a function of contrast: a system analytical approach

That the latency of the pattern evoked potential (EP) increases as the stimulus contrast decreases can be understood as the result of, first, a low-pass filtering process of the (contrast) signal followed by, second, and nonlinear 'threshold' stage. We show here that by using this simple concept it is possible to estimate the shape of the 'unit step' response of the low-pass filter with the latency vs. contrast data. We show also that the step responses calculated from several subjects are in reasonable agreement if they are normalized with using the subjects' own contrast thresholds. Within experimental error, the response of a filter consisting of four low-pass first-order stages with a 10.5 Hz cut-off frequency gives a reasonable fit to our own data and to that of one other study (Musselwhite and Jeffreys, 1982).