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Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns
Published on: May 12, 2019
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Visual cortical area contributions to the transient, multifocal and steady-state VEP: A forward model-informed
Kieran S Mohr1, Anna C Geuzebroek1, Simon P Kelly1
1School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Imaging Neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)
|August 13, 2025
Summary
Visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) like C1 and steady-state VEPs (SSVEPs) primarily originate from the primary visual cortex (V1), with some extrastriate contributions. Our findings support using these VEPs to study V1 activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Electrophysiology
Background:
- Understanding the anatomical sources of visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) is crucial for visual processing research.
- Common VEP measures like C1 and steady-state VEPs (SSVEPs) are linked to visual cortex activity, but their precise origins remain debated.
- Existing source modeling techniques have limitations in resolving these origins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the anatomical sources of transient C1, multifocal C1, and SSVEPs within a unified framework.
- To investigate the contribution of primary visual cortex (V1) and extrastriate areas (V2, V3) to these VEP signals.
- To develop methods for distinguishing VEP contributions from different visual areas.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the 'cruciform model' of V1 activity based on retinotopy and cortical folding.
- Measured transient C1, multifocal C1, and SSVEPs (at 18.75 Hz and 7.5 Hz) in response to visual stimuli.
- Regressed VEP topographies against forward models of V1, V2, and V3 derived from the Benson-2014 atlas.
Main Results:
- V1 models explained 2-6 times more variance in VEP topographic variations than V2/V3 models.
- Including all three visual areas (V1-V3) improved model fit, but temporal analysis showed later extrastriate contributions.
- All tested VEP signals showed stronger V1 topographic capture.
Conclusions:
- Peak C1 amplitude and SSVEPs are suitable for probing primary visual cortex (V1) activity.
- SSVEPs exhibit more significant extrastriate contributions compared to C1.
- Heuristics based on lateralization and polarity inversion can help differentiate VEP sources across visual areas.
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