Observing the steady-state visual evoked potentials with a compact quad-channel spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer

We observed the steady-state visually evoked potential(SSVEP) from a healthy subject using a compact quad-channel potassium spin exchange relaxation-free(SERF) optically pumped magnetometer(OPM). To this end, 30 s of data were collected, and SSVEP-related magnetic responses with signal intensity ranging from 150 fT to 300 f T were observed for all four channels. The corresponding signal to noise ratio(SNR) was in the range of 3.5–5.5. We then used different channels to operate the sensor as a gradiometer. In the specific case of detecting SSVEP, we noticed that the short channel separation distance led to a strongly diminished gradiometer signal. Although not optimal for the case of SSVEP detection, this set-up can prove to be highly useful for other magnetoencephalography(MEG) paradigms that require good noise cancellation.Considering its compactness, low cost, and good performance, the K-SERF sensor has great potential for biomagnetic field measurements and brain-computer interfaces(BCI).

Influence of stimuli color on steady-state visual evoked potentials based BCI wheelchair control

In recent years, Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems based on Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) have received much attention. This study tries to develop a SSVEP based BCI system that can control a wheelchair prototype in five different positions including stop position. In this study four different flickering frequencies in low frequency region were used to elicit the SSVEPs and were displayed on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor using Lab-VIEW. Four stimuli colors, green, red, blue and violet were used to investigate the color influence in SSVEPs. The Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals recorded from the occipital region were segmented into 1 second window and features were extracted by using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). One-Against-All (OAA), a popular strategy for multiclass SVM, is used to classify SSVEP signals. During stimuli color comparison SSVEP with violet color showed higher accuracy than that with green, red and blue stimuli.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy can detect low-frequency hemodynamic oscillations in the prefrontal cortex during steady-state visual evoked potentialinducing periodic facial expression stimuli presentation

Brain oscillations are vital to cognitive functions,while disrupted oscillatory activity is linked to various brain disorders.Although high-frequency neural oscillations(>1 Hz)have been extensively studied in cognition,the neural mechanisms underlying low-frequency hemodynamic oscillations(LFHO)<1 Hz have not yet been fully explored.One way to examine oscillatory neural dynamics is to use a facial expression(FE)paradigm to induce steady-state visual evoked potentials(SSVEPs),which has been used in electroencephalography studies of high-frequency brain oscillation activity.In this study,LFHO during SSVEP-inducing periodic flickering stimuli presentation were inspected using functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS),in which hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal cortex were recorded while participants were passively viewing dynamic FEs flickering at 0.2 Hz.The fast Fourier analysis results demonstrated that the power exhibited monochronic peaks at 0.2 Hz across all channels,indicating that the periodic events successfully elicited LFHO in the prefrontal cortex.More importantly,measurement of LFHO can effectively distinguish the brain activation difference between different cognitive conditions,with happy FE presentation showing greater LFHO power than neutral FE presentation.These results demonstrate that stimuli flashing at a given frequency can induce LFHO in the prefrontal cortex,which provides new insights into the cognitive mechanisms involved in slow oscillation.

Studying the Effect of the Pre-Stimulation Paradigm on Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials with Dynamic Models Based on the Zero-Pole Analytical Method

This study explored methods for improving the performance of Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential(SSVEP)-based Brain-Computer Interfaces(BCI), and introduced a new analytical method to quantitatively analyze and reflect the characteristics of SSVEP. We focused on the effect of the pre-stimulation paradigm on the SSVEP dynamic models and the dynamic response process of SSVEP, and performed a comparative analysis of three pre-stimulus paradigms(black, gray, and white). Four dynamic models with different orders(second-and third-order)and with and without a zero point were used to fit the SSVEP envelope. The zero-pole analytical method was adopted to conduct quantitative analysis on the dynamic models, and the response characteristics of SSVEP were represented by zero-pole distribution characteristics. The results of this study indicated that the pre-stimulation paradigm affects the characteristics of SSVEP, and the dynamic models had good fitting abilities with SSVEPs under various types of pre-stimulation. Furthermore, the zero-pole characteristics of the models effectively characterize the damping coefficient, oscillation period, and other SSVEP characteristics. The comparison of zeros and poles indicated that the gray pre-stimulation condition corresponds to a lower damping coefficient, thus showing its potential to improve the performance of SSVEP-BCIs.

Review of brain-computer interface based on steady-state visual evoked potential

The brain-computer interface(BCI)technology has received lots of attention in the field of scientific research because it can help disabled people improve their quality of life.Steady-state visual evoked potential(SSVEP)is the most researched BCI experimental paradigm,which offers the advantages of high signal-to-noise ratio and short training-time requirement by users.In a complete BCI system,the two most critical components are the experimental paradigm and decoding algorithm.However,a systematic combination of the SSVEP experimental paradigm and decoding algorithms is missing in existing studies.In the present study,the transient visual evoked potential,SSVEP,and various improved SSVEP paradigms are compared and analyzed,and the problems and development bottlenecks in the experimental paradigm are finally pointed out.Subsequently,the canonical correlation analysis and various improved decoding algorithms are introduced,and the opportunities and challenges of the SSVEP decoding algorithm are discussed.

Effect of background luminance of visual stimulus on elicited steady-state visual evoked potentials

Steady-state visual evoked potential(SSVEP)-based brain-computer interfaces(BCIs)have been widely studied.Considerable progress has been made in the aspects of stimulus coding,electroencephalogram processing,and recognition algorithms to enhance system performance.The properties of SSVEP have been demonstrated to be highly sensitive to stimulus luminance.However,thus far,there have been very few reports on the impact of background luminance on the system performance of SSVEP-based BCIs.This study investigated the impact of stimulus background luminance on SSVEPs.Specifically,this study compared two types of background luminance,i.e.,(1)black luminance[red,green,blue(rgb):(0,0,0)]and(2)gray luminance[rgb:(128,128,128)],and determined their effect on the classification performance of SSVEPs at the stimulus frequencies of 9,11,13,and 15 Hz.The offline results from nine healthy subjects showed that compared with the gray background luminance,the black background luminance induced larger SSVEP amplitude and larger signal-to-noise ratio,resulting in a better classification accuracy.These results suggest that the background luminance of visual stimulus has a considerable effect on the SSVEP and therefore has a potential to improve the BCI performance.

Neural suppression of distractors surrounding the spotlight:Evidence from steady-state visual evoked potentials

The present study investigated the allocation of spatial attention using steady-state visual evoked potentials(SSVEPs).The SSVEP is elicited in visual cortical areas by a repetitive flicker having the same fundamental frequency as the driving stimulus.Two flickers were applied with the letter stream presented in the center of the monitor and the distractor presented on either the left or right side of the target.Participants were instructed to detect the target letter in the letter stream.The distance of the two flickers was manipulated.The results show that the amplitudes of the SSVEPs elicited by the distractor were enhanced when it was in the closest position and suppressed when it was at a farther distance.But the amplitudes rebounded at the farthest distance.Meanwhile,the SSVEP elicited by the target flicker remained stable independent of the distance of the distractor.Thus,the present study indicates that focused attention involves neural suppression surrounding the classic "spotlight",and the SSVEP paradigms open new avenues for studying the attentional suppression mechanism.

Characteristics of Pattern Visual Evoked Potential in Two Eyes with Varying Visual Acuity in One Eye and Forensic Application

In this study, we aimed to study the pattern visual evoked potentials （P-VEPs） in two eyes with varying visual acuity in one eye and to provide an objective estimation of visual acuity by comparing P-VEPs in one and two eyes. Thirty subjects were chosen, who had one eye with an acuity of 5.0, 4.85, 4.6, 4.0, or scieropia and obstructed vision and the other eye with an acuity of 5.0, respectively. P-VEPs were detected under the large grating stimuli at 3x4 spatial frequency, moderate grating stimuli （12× 16 spatial frequency） and small grating stimuli （48×64 spatial frequency）. Under large grating stimuli, there was no significant difference in P100 peak latency between the groups, nor was there a significant difference between the amplitude of two eyes and the amplitude of one normal-vision eye. Under moderate and small grating stimuli, there was a significant difference in P100 peak latency between the group with both eyes having an acuity of 5.0 and the group with visual acuity below 4.0 in one eye. There was a significant difference in P100 amplitude between the group with visual acuity of 5.0 in both eyes and the group with one normal-vision eye. There was no significant difference in the amplitude of two eyes and the amplitude of one normal-vision eye between any other two groups. In forensic identification, characteristics and variability of P-VEPs in one and two eyes can be used to identify malingering or decline in visual acuity.

Comparison of isolated-check visual evoked potential and standard automated perimetry in early glaucoma and high-risk ocular hypertension

AIM：To compare the diagnostic performance of isolatedcheck visual evoked potential（ic VEP） and standard automated perimetry（SAP）,for evaluating the application values of ic VEP in the detection of early glaucoma.METHODS：Totally 144 subjects（288 eyes） were enrolled in this study.ic VEP testing was performed with the Neucodia visual electrophysiological diagnostic system.A 15% positive-contrast（bright） condition pattern was used in this device to differentiate between glaucoma patients and healthy control subjects.Signal-to-noise ratios（SNR） were derived based on a multivariate statistic.The eyes were judged as abnormal if the test yielded an SNR≤1.SAP testing was performed with the Humphrey Field Analyzer II.The visual fields were deemed as abnormality if the glaucoma hemifield test results outside normal limits;or the pattern standard deviation with P〈0.05;or the cluster of three or more non-edge points on the pattern deviation plot in a single hemifield with P〈0.05,one of which must have a P〈0.01.Disc photographs were graded as either glaucomatous optic neuropathy or normal by two experts who were masked to all other patient information.Moorfields regression analysis（MRA） used as a separate diagnostic classification was performed by Heidelberg retina tomograph（HRT）.RESULTS：When the disc photograph grader was used as diagnostic standard,the sensitivity for SAP and ic VEP was 32.3% and 38.5% respectively and specificity was 82.3% and 77.8% respectively.When the MRA Classifier was used as the diagnostic standard,the sensitivity for SAP and ic VEP was 48.6% and 51.4% respectively and specificity was 84.1% and 78.0% respectively.When the combined structural assessment was used as the diagnostic standard,the sensitivity for SAP and ic VEP was 59.2%and 53.1% respectively and specificity was 84.2% and 84.6% respectivlely.There was no statistical significance between the sensitivity or specificity of SAP and ic VEP,regardless of which diagnostic standard was based on.CONCLUSION：The diagnostic performance of ic VEP is not better than that of SAP in the detection of early glaucoma.

Effect of sodium tungstate on visual evoked potentials in diabetic rats

AIM： To evaluate the effect of sodium tungstate on visual evoked potentials（VEPs） in diabetic rats.· METHODS： Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups as normal control, diabetic control and diabetic rats treated with sodium tungstate. Diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin（50 mg/kg）. Sodium tungstate [40 mg/（kg·d）]was administered for 12 wk and then VEPs were recorded.Additionally, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance（TBARS） levels were measured in brain tissues.·RESULTS： The latencies of P1, N1, P2, N2 and P3 waves were significantly prolonged in diabetic rats compared with control group. Diabetes mellitus caused an increase in the lipid peroxidation process that was accompanied by changes in VEPs. However, prolonged latencies of VEPs for all components returned to control levels in sodium tungstate-treated group. The treatment of sodium tungstate significantly decreased brain TBARS levels and depleted the prolonged latencies of VEP components compared with diabetic control group.· CONCLUSION： Sodium tungstate shows protective effects on visual pathway in diabetic rats, and it can be worthy of further study for potential use.

Efficacy of nerve growth factor on the treatment of optic nerve contusion Evaluation with visual evoked potential

BACKGROUND： Pattern- visual evoked potential （PVEP） can reflect the functional status of retinal ganglial cells （RGC） and visual cortex, and is an objective examination for visual pathway function. It is a unique method for objectively examining the optic nerve function of optic ganglion cells. OBJECTIVE： To observe the effects of nerve growth factor （NGF） on PVEF in the treatment of optic nerve contusion, evaluate the clinical efficacy of NGF, and make an efficacy comparison with vitamin B12. DESIGN： A randomly grouping, controlled observation. SETTING： Department of Ophthalmology, Tangshan Gongren Hospital Affiliated to Hebei Medical University. PARTICIPANTS： Forty patients with optic nerve contusion caused by eye trauma, who received the treatment in the Tangshan Worker Hospital Affiliated to Hebei Medical University between January 2006 and June 2007, were recruited in this study. The involved 40 patients, including 34 males and 6 females, were aged 14-59 years. They were confirmed to have optic nerve contusion by ophthalmologic consultation combined with history of disease and orbital CT examination. Informed consents of treatments and detected items were obtained from all the patients. The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups with 20 in each： NGF group and vitamin B12 group. METHODS： Conservative treatment was used in the two groups. In addition, patients in the NGF group were intramuscularly injected with NGF solution 18 μg /time, once a day. Those in the vitamin B12 group were injected by the same method with common vitamin B12 of 500 μg combined with vitamin B1 of 100 mg, once a day. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： PVEP examination was conducted in all the patients before, one and two weeks after treatment, and latency and amplitude at P100 were detected. RESULTS： Forty patients with optic nerve contusion participated in the final analysis. Before treatment, significant differences in the latency and amplitude at P100 were not found in patients between two groups （P 〉 0.05）. For each patient in the NGF group, the latency of PVEP at P100 was significantly shortened, and the amplitude was significantly increased one and two weeks after treatment as compared with vitamin B12 group（t =2.06-2.34, P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： NGF treatment can obviously improve the visual function of patients with optic nerve contusion. The curative effect of NGF is superior to vitamin B12.

Specificity and sensitivity of visual evoked potentials P100 latency to different events exercise

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are a series of signals about visual occipital cortex in response to visual stimuli and can be used as one of ob-jective non-invasive neuro-physiological pa-rameters to reflect the visual organs and central visual pathway’s functional integrity. Previous studies have shown that acute and chronic ex-ercise could affect VEPs independent from body temperature and other physiological parameters. VEPs may well be used as neuro-physiological criteria in defining the performances of the ath-letes. Different sports training have different effects on VEPs, but the results are not consis-tent. P100 latency is the representative compo-nent of VEPs and it is of high, steady amplitude and of slight intra- and inter-individual variabil-ity so that the index is most commonly used. The purpose of this study was to investigate the specificity and sensitivity of P100 latency to dif-ferent physical activities. The neural electricity device of NDI-200 was used to measure the pattern reversal VEPs of all subjects, including the values of the resting state before and after different events exercise. Different events exer-cise contained an aerobic cycloergometric ex-ercise (7 subjects were conducted to a Bruce Graded Exercise Test on the Monark Ergomedic 839E cycloergometer, THR (target heart rate) = 85% HRmax, 3 times/week, about 10 minutes once time, 6 weeks), tennis training (16 volun-teers, 2 hours/day, 3 days/week, 8 weeks), aerobic Latin exercise (7 subjects, 1 hour/day, 3 days/week, 6 weeks) and the Baduanjin of Health Qigong training (6 subjects, 1 hour/day, 3 days/week, 6 weeks). The VEPs recordings of the control groups obtained synchronized with the experimental groups. SPSS 11.5 for win-dows was used for statistical analysis. A level of P﹤0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. The VEPs P100 latency of post-exercise of all experimental groups except Baduanjin group became shorter significantly compared with those of pre-exercise (P﹤0.05). No significant difference was found between pre-and post- exercise for the control groups. This study showed that exercise could shorten the P100 la-tency significantly. Moreover, it also indicated that VEPs were sensitive to exercise to a certain extent. We concluded that VEPs might well be used as neuro-physiological criteria in defining the performances of the athletes. It was found that the VEPs P100 latency became shorter after most training programs;furthermore, it demon-strated that P100 latency of VEPs had little specificity to different events.

Applications of the isolated-check visual evoked potential in primary open angle glaucoma with or without high myopia

AIM:To explore the diagnostic performance of isolatedcheck visual evoked potential(ic VEP)for primary open angle glaucoma(POAG)in both highly myopic and nonhighly myopic populations and compare it with those of optical coherence tomography(OCT)and Heidelberg retinal tomography(HRT)parameters.METHODS:A total of 126 participants were recruited,including 31 highly myopic participants with POAG(HM-POAG),36 non-highly myopic participants with POAG(NHM-POAG),25 highly myopic participants without POAG(HM)and 34 controls without high myopia(Normal).All the participants underwent a complete ophthalmic examination.The signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)was used to assess the ic VEP.Both qualitative and quantitative diagnostic performances of OCT,HRT and the ic VEP were analyzed and compared.RESULTS:Based on the criterion of SNR≤1,the diagnostic performance of the ic VEP in highly myopic subjects[area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC)=0.862]was better than that in non-highly myopic subjects(AUC=0.789),and the SNR had fairly good specificity.In distinguishing the HM-POAG and HM groups,the AUC of the SNR was not different from those of the OCT and HRT parameters(P>0.05)in either the qualitative or quantitative comparison.In the qualitative analysis,the ic VEP showed good consistency with damage to the central 10°of the visual field(kappa=0.695-0.747,P<0.001).CONCLUSION:The ic VEP has the potential to discriminate individuals with and without POAG,especially in populations with high myopia.

Appropriate stimulation in visual evoked potential to evaluate visual perception state of athletes

BACKGROUND： Several studies have demonstrated that visual evoked potentials can be influenced by sport events. To the best of our knowledge, there are no specific parameters for the most appropriate stimulation for evaluating the functional state of athletes. OBJECTIVE： To investigate the best stimulation in visual evoked potential to apply to functional evaluation of athletes. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： Ninety-five, healthy students from the Shandong Normal University took part in an observational, contrast study. PARTICIPANTS： All active participants were male. Sixty-five students majored in physical education, and had participated in exercise for the duration of （4.26 ± 3.08） years. An additional 30 students majored in other subjects. METHODS： The neural electricity tester, NDI-200, was adapted to examine and record visual evoked potential with varying probes using bipolar electrodes attached to the head of all the participants in a dark room. The visual evoked potential values were analyzed transversally. A chessboard pattern reversal method was applied with the following parameters： 2 Hz stimulation frequency, brightness of 90 cdp, 80% contrast, 1-100 Hz bandpass filters, and 10 μV sensitivity; 100 responses were averaged. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： latency, peak latencies, and inter-peak latencies were measured in N75, P100, N145 with varying probe stimulations. RESULTS： （1） Comparisons between the little check, middle check, and big check stimulation, demonstrated that the common tendencies in visual evoked potential indexes of the two groups of N75 latency were successively shorter and N145 were longer. P100-N145 peak latency was decreased and each inter-peak latency was longer. （2） Changes of N75, P100, and N145 with different check stimulations in the physical education student group： after compared with the middle check stimulation, N75 latency was significantly longer （P 〈 0.01）, and N75-P100 inter-peak latency （P 〈 0.05） and N75-N145 inter-peak latency were both shorter （P 〈 0.05）. N75-P100 inter-peak latency was shorter （P 〈 0.01） in the little check stimulation. When compared with the big check stimulation, N75 latency was significantly longer （P 〈 0.01） and N145 was shorter （P 〈 0.01）. Compared with the big check stimulation, N145 latency was significantly shorter （P 〈 0.05） （3） Changes of N75, P100, and N145 with different check stimulations in the normal students： when compared with the big check stimulation, N75 latency was significantly longer （P 〈 0.05） and N145 latency was shorter （P 〈 0.05）. Each inter-peak latency was shorter （P 〈 0.05） in the little check stimulation. When comparing the middle check stimulation, N75-N145 inter-peak latency was shorter （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Large visual evoked potential differences were observed between students majoring in physical education and other subjects when medium probe stimulation was applied. These results suggest that the use of medium probe stimulation （25 mm×25 mm） should be adopted when evaluating the functional state of athletes.

Short-duration transient visual evoked potentials and color reflectivity discretization analysis in glaucoma patients and suspects

AIM： To evaluate the use of short-duration transient visual evoked potentials（VEP） and color reflectivity discretization analysis（CORDA） in glaucomatous eyes,eyes suspected of having glaucoma,and healthy eyes.METHODS： The study included 136 eyes from 136 subjects： 49 eyes with glaucoma,45 glaucoma suspect eyes,and 42 healthy eyes.Subjects underwent Humphrey visual field（VF） testing,VEP testing,as well as peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer optical coherence tomography imaging studies with post-acquisition CORDA applied.Statistical analysis was performed using means and ranges,ANOVA,post-hoc comparisons using Turkey＇s adjustment,Fisher＇s Exact test,area under the curve,and Spearman correlation coefficients.RESULTS： Parameters from VEP and CORDA correlated significantly with VF mean deviation（MD）（P〈0.05）.In distinguishing glaucomatous eyes from controls,VEP demonstrated area under the curve（AUC） values of 0.64-0.75 for amplitude and 0.67-0.81 for latency.The CORDA HR1 parameter was highly discriminative for glaucomatous eyes vs controls（AUC=0.94）.CONCLUSION： Significant correlations are found between MD and parameters of short-duration transient VEP and CORDA,diagnostic modalities which warrant further consideration in identifying glaucoma characteristics.

Changes in the latencies of visual-evoked potentials in people undergoing tennis training Dynamic comparison before and after 8 weeks training

BACKGROUND： Some previous studies have shown that exercise is an important factor that affects the latencies of visual-evoked potentials （VEPs）. OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effects of spending a period of time undergoing tennis training on the latencies of VEPs by comparing the latencies of VEPs before tennis training with those after 8 weeks of tennis training. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： The non-randomly concurrent controlled experiment was performed in the Department of Human Movement Sciences, Physical Education College, Shandong Normal University from April to June 2007. PARTICIPANTS： In total, 45 healthy volunteers from Shandong Normal University were selected as subjects, including 31 students majoring in physical education （11 males and 5 females participated in the tennis training plan for 8 weeks）, and 14 students from other subjects. Informed consent was obtained. According to whether they were majoring in physical education or not, and whether or not they took part in tennis training, the students were divided into 3 groups： a tennis group of physical education students （n = 16） a non-tennis group of physical education students （n =15） and a non-tennis group of non-physical education students （n = 14）. METHODS： The subjects in the tennis group took part in a regular tennis training plan of 2 hours a day and 3 days per week, for 8 weeks, while the subjects in two non-tennis groups were not in the tennis training plan The NDI-200 neural electricity tester （Shanghai Haishen Medical Electronic Instrument Co., Ltd.） was used to measure VEPs before and after the experiment in all three groups, and to compare the latencies of VEPs recorded before training with those recorded after training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Comparison of the changes in latencies of VEPs before and after 8 weeks of tennis training. RESULTS： All 45 subjects finished the test and datas from all were included in the statistical analysis. There were no significant differences among all the three groups before tennis training, but the female subjects in each group showed significantly shorter N75 latencies than male subjects of the same group （P 〈 0.05）. Comparing the latencies of VEPs after training with those recorded before training, the N75, P100 and N145 latencies were all found to be significantly shorter than before training in the tennis group （P 〈 0.05）, but the N75, P100 and N145 latencies were unaffected in the two non-tennis groups （P 〉 0.05）; some latencies were even significantly longer than the before-training values. CONCLUSION： Special tennis training for 8 weeks can make the subjects＇ VEP latencies significantly shorter. Thus, VEP latencies can change with tennis training.

Effect of infusion pressure during cataract surgery on ganglion cells measured using isolated-check visual evoked potential

AIM： To detect the relationship between infusion pressure and postoperative ganglion cells function.METHODS： This prospective observational cohort study included sixty-one eyes that underwent uncomplicated cataract surgery. Patients were divided into two groups according to infusion time（IT） recorded using surgery equipment [Group A： IT〉IT_（mean）（27 eyes）; Group B： IT

Effect of visual stimulus locations on pattern-reversal visual evoked potential An epidural electrocorticogram study

To explore the effect of the location of a visual stimulus on neural responses in the primary visual cortex （V1）, a micro-electromechanical system-based microelectrode array with nine channels was implanted on the cerebral dura mater of V1 in adult cats. 2 Hz pattern reversal checkerboard stimul were used to stimulate the four visual quadrants （i.e., upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right fields）. The results showed that there was a N75 component of the visual evoked potential around 50-80 ms after the onset of a checkerboard stimulus, and the onset of these N75 peaks varied with different stimulus locations. The checkerboard stimuli Jnduced shorter latencJes in the contralateral V1 than in the ipsilateral V1, while the checkerboard stimulus in the upper half visual field induced shorter latencies for N75. These results suggested that the pattern-reversal stimuli induced neural activities in V1 that can be recorded with multichannel microelectrodes, and more detailed temporal and spatial properties can be measured.

Visual acuity evaluation in children with hydrocephalus:An electrophysiological study with sweep visual evoked potential

The objective was to measure the visual acuity (VA) of children with the diagnosis of hydrocephalus with or without peritoneal-ventricular shunt (PVS). A total of 55 children were included in the study (34 Female), with an age range of 0 to 291 weeks. The VA was measured by the sweep visual evoked potential technique. Of those with a PVS, in 31 the ventricular valve was inserted before 15 days after the diagnosis whereas in 14 the ventricular valve was inserted after 15 days. The sweep VEP was performed in all children, 95 exams (94%) were abnormal and only 6 were normal. There was a statistical difference in the VA between children with a PVS inserted before 15 days of the diagnosis and children with a PVS after 15 days (p = 0.038) or those without a shunt (p = 0.031). Children with no complications of the PVS had a better VA as compared to those with shunt complications (p < 0.001). In the group of children with complications, again those who had a shunt inserted be-fore 15 days had better VA results in com- parison to those in whom the shunt was inserted after 15 days (p = 0.029). No statistical difference in the VA was found between children without the PVS and with those in which the shunt was inserted after 15 days of the di-agnosis of hydrocephalus (p = 0.699). We conclude that the delayed insertion of the PVS may compromise the visual development of these children.

Visual evoked potential by implanted scalp electrode in rats

·AIM:To establish a new method to record visual evoked potential of rats and this method was applied to retinal cone degeneration (RCD) and congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) rats to see whether it is feasible.·METHODS:After anesthesia,the rats scalp surface was exposed and two stainless screws were implanted at 4mm in front of and 8mm behind Bregma.The front one was reference electrode and the latter one was recording electrode.The ground electrode was joined to the tail.And we recorded VEP of scotopic adaptation and photopic adaptation (The stimulus intensity of light :0.011,0.035,0.11,0.35,1.1 and 3.5cd·s/m2.They were all overlapped for 100 times.There were 2-5minutes intervals between different intensities.The frequency of stimulation was 1Hz and time course was 300 milliseconds).A week later,we recorded the VEP again in the same conditions.·RESULTS:The rats who were implanted with electrodes could live longer.When they were recorded,there was no disturbance and the waveforms were very clear and steady.There was no difference between the waveforms recorded by conventional method and those by implanted electrodes while the amplitude of new method was larger than conventional.We could get the same conclusion in RCD and CSNB rats.·CONCLUSION:Since the electrodes can be kept on the scalp for a longer time,we can not only observe dynamic changes of VEP but also observe the long-duration patho-logical changes in the rats.Because the positions of recording and reference electrodes were fixed,the system error can be reduced and the repeatability of experiments increased.·