Visual Evoked Response Modulation Occurs in a Complementary Manner Under Dynamic Circuit Framework.

Abstract

The steady-state visual-evoked potential (SSVEP) induced by the periodic visual stimulus plays an important role in vision research. An increasing number of studies use the SSVEP to manipulate intrinsic oscillation and further regulate test performance. However, how the internal state modulates fundamental properties of the SSVEP remains poorly understood. Here, we identified a multiscale computational model to investigate the neural mechanism underlying low-frequency SSVEP modulation. We found that intrinsic alpha oscillation mirroring the circuit coupling state modulates the SSVEP in a complementary manner at different spatial levels, which unifies prior seemingly contradictory observations. Specifically, our model demonstrates that the laminar-specific organization induced by intercortical communication possibly underlies the commonly observed inverse SSVEP-alpha relation and that the individual peak alpha frequency (iPAF) transformation characterizing local coupling contributes to the individual-specific resonance frequency responses. Our dynamic circuit framework builds a link between SSVEP gain modulation and intrinsic alpha oscillation and paves the way for the further reconstruction of SSVEP global dynamics.