Abstract
Using the scalp time-varying network method, the present study is the first to investigate the temporal influence of the reference on N170, a negative event-related potential component (ERP) appeared about 170 ms that is elicited by facial recognition, in the network levels. Two kinds of scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) references, namely, AR (average of all recording channels) and reference electrode standardization technique (REST), were comparatively investigated via the time-varying processing of N170. Results showed that the latency and amplitude of N170 were significantly different between REST and AR, with the former being earlier and smaller. In particular, the information flow from right temporal-parietal P8 to left P7 in the time-varying network was earlier in REST than that in AR, and this phenomenon was reproduced by simulation, in which the performance of REST was closer to the true case at source level. These findings indicate that reference plays a crucial role in ERP data interpretation, and importantly, the newly developed approximate zero-reference REST would be a superior choice for precise evaluation of the scalp spatio-temporal changes relating to various cognitive events.
Highlights
For scalp EEG/event-related potential component (ERP) data, the choice of reference is a critical issue for the ERP amplitude (Yao et al, 2005), the difference between two ERPs (Tian and Yao, 2013), and the brain network topology (Yao et al, 2005; Qin et al, 2010; Thatcher, 2012)
A paired t-test was performed to measure the reference effect on N170 elicited by human face and the result showed that the latency of N170 at the P8 based on reference electrode standardization technique (REST) was shorter than that on average reference (AR) [t = 4.37, p < 0.05, d = 0.28; Mean latency±SD for REST: 173.01 ms ±14.69; for AR: 177.60 ms±17.96]
The scalp EEG time-varying network was introduced in N170 analysis
Summary
For scalp EEG/ERP data, the choice of reference is a critical issue for the ERP amplitude (Yao et al, 2005), the difference between two ERPs (Tian and Yao, 2013), and the brain network topology (Yao et al, 2005; Qin et al, 2010; Thatcher, 2012). Due to the lack of a neutral (or zero) point on the human body surface, all of the current recording references, such as the mean mastoid reference (MM) and the vertex reference (Cz), might unavoidably lead to some unknown false fluctuations that destroy the genuine EEG information (Yao, 2001; Zhai and Yao, 2004; Yao et al, 2007; Kayser and Tenke, 2010; Nunez, 2010; Qin et al, 2010; Tian and Yao, 2013). REST will be firstly used comparatively to AR to evaluate the potential effects on N170, which is an event-related potential elicited by face recognition (Bentin et al, 1996; Itier and Taylor, 2004)
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