While an undergraduate waits

Abstract

The search for the intracranial sources of components of the ERP using non-human species can benefit from an analysis of the functional significance of these components. Such analysis provides criteria, based on the response of the components to experimental manipulations, for identifying those aspects of the ERP recorded in other species that are analogous to specific ERP components recorded from human subjects. This thesis is illustrated by examining the problems presented by the data recorded in monkeys by D onchin et al. ( Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol. 31, 115–127, 1971). The different ERP components they observed in the monkeys could not be fully interpreted because a detailed analysis of the ERPs recorded during similar paradigms in humans was lacking. We review studies of the Lateralized Readiness Potential using human subjects which indicate how the activity recorded during such waiting intervals which specifically relates to motor preparation can be identified.