Non-cephalic Electrode Research Articles

Measuring auditory event-related potentials at the external ear canal: A demonstrative study using a new electrode and error-feedback paradigm.

Although ear canal electroencephalogram (EEG) recording has received interest from basic and applied research communities, evidence on how it can be implemented in practice is limited. The present study involving eight male participants including the authors presents the utility of our ear canal electrode and method by demonstrating both comparability of ear canal EEG to those at nearby sites and distinctiveness that ear canal event-related potentials (ERPs) could have. For this purpose, we used the balanced noncephalic electrode reference and an experimental paradigm with an error-feedback sound. Clear auditory ERPs were detected at the ear canal sites with a sufficiently low noise level comparable with those at conventional sites. The N1c, a temporal maximum subcomponent, spread over the bilateral temporal sites, including the ear canals and earlobes. While consecutive signals are generally highly similar between the ear canal and the earlobe, the N1c was larger at the ear canal than the earlobe, as demonstrated by the conventional frequentist and the hierarchical Bayesian modelling approaches. Although an evident caveat is that our sample was limited in terms of size and sex, the general capability indicates that the structure of our ear canal electrode provides EEG measurement that can be used in basic and applied settings. Our experimental method can also be an ERP-based test that conveniently assesses the capability of existing and future ear canal electrodes. The distinctive nature of the ERPs to the error-feedback sound may be utilized to examine the basic aspects of auditory ERPs and to test the processes involved in feedback-guided behaviour of participants.

Intraoperative Erb's Point-Vertex recording increases brainstem auditory evoked potential wave V amplitude

ObjectiveRecording derivations for intraoperative brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) monitoring consist of a preauricular electrode referenced to Cz′. These derivations are prone to unfavorable signal amplitude. This study analyses whether an alternative noncephalic electrode positioned over ipsilateral Erb’s point, thereby generating a new Erb’s point-vertex recording derivation, improves BAEP recordings. MethodsElectrodes were placed preauricularly (A1/A2) and at left and right Erb’s point (EP1/EP2). They were referenced to Cz′. Click sound stimulation (80–95 dB above hearing level) was applied. At intraoperative baseline conditions, latencies and amplitudes of waves I–V of all derivations were analyzed. ResultsData of 30 patients (54 ± 15 years/17 females) with normal hearing or mild symmetrical presbycusis undergoing infratentorial surgeries (15 microvascular decompressions) were analyzed. Using EP1-Cz′/EP2-Cz′ derivations compared to A1-Cz′/A2-Cz′, amplitudes for wave IV (left +65%, p < 0.001; right +43%, p = 0.002) and wave V (left +54%, p < 0.001; right +48%, p < 0.001) were significantly increased. Only in the left (EP1) derivation, there was a tendency towards less reproducibility of wave I, resulting in a decrease of amplitude (−35%, p = 0.005). ConclusionsAdding an Erb’s point electrode derivation resulted in larger amplitudes of waves IV to V. whereas conventional preauricular or mastoid derivation is preferential for wave I assessment. SignificanceIncreased wave amplitudes facilitate detection of pathologically reduced wave forms (wave V in particular) which represents a significant advancement.

Auditory T-Complex Reveals Reduced Neural Activities in the Right Auditory Cortex in Musicians With Absolute Pitch.

Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify the pitch names of arbitrary musical tones without being given a reference pitch. The acquisition of AP typically requires early musical training, the critical time window for which is similar to that for the acquisition of a first language. This study investigated the left–right asymmetry of the auditory cortical functions responsible for AP by focusing on the T-complex of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs), which shows morphological changes during the critical period for language acquisition. AEPs evoked by a pure-tone stimulus were recorded in high-AP musicians, low-AP musicians, and non-musicians (n = 19 each). A balanced non-cephalic electrode (BNE) reference was used to examine the left–right asymmetry of the N1a and N1c components of the T-complex. As a result, a left-dominant N1c was observed only in the high-AP musician group, indicating “AP negativity,” which has previously been described as an electrophysiological marker of AP. Notably, this hemispheric asymmetry was due to a diminution of the right N1c rather than enhancement of the left N1c. A left-dominant N1a was found in both musician groups, irrespective of AP. N1c and N1a exhibited no left–right asymmetry in non-musicians. Hence, music training and the acquisition of AP are both accompanied by a left-dominant hemispheric specialization of auditory cortical functions, as indexed by N1a and N1c, respectively, but the N1c asymmetry in AP possessors was due to reduced neural activities in the right hemisphere. The use of a BNE is recommended for evaluating these radially oriented components of the T-complex.

Flash-related synchronization and desynchronization revealed by a multiple band frequency analysis.

The fast Fourier transform (FFT) is a good method to estimate power spectral density (PSD), but the frequency resolution is limited to the sampling window, and thus the precise characteristics of PSD for short signals are not clear. To relax the limitation, a multiple band-pass filter was introduced to estimate the precise course of PSDs for flash visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Signals were recorded during -200 and 600 ms using balanced noncephalic electrodes, and sampled at 1,000 Hz in 12 bits. With 1 Hz and 10 ms resolutions, PSDs were estimated between 10 and 100 Hz. Background powers at the alpha- and beta-bands were high over the posterior scalp, and powers around 200 ms were evoked at the same bands over the same region, corresponding to P110 and N165 of VEPs. Normalized PSDs showed evoked powers around 200 ms and suppressed powers following the evoked powers over the posterior scalp. The evoked powers above the 20 Hz band were not statistically significant, however, the gamma band was significantly evoked intra-individually; details in the gamma bands were varied among the subjects. Details of PSDs were complicated even for a simple task such as watching flashes; both synchronization and desynchronization occurred with different distributions and different time courses.

An optimal electrode position for recording auditory evoked brain stem potentials within the scope of pediatric audiology

Estimation of hearing threshold in children is based on reliable identification of a response to a stimulus in the near-threshold range. It is well known that only wave V can be detected in brainstem potentials evoked by near-threshold stimuli. So the question arises as to whether or not a noncephalic reference electrode compared to the common lateral postition of the reference electrode on the ipsilateral mastoid produces a more stable wave V of increased amplitude. Thirty-three normal hearing children in three age groups (< 6 years, 6-10 years, > 10 years) were investigated. For a near-threshold stimulation with 100-microsecond-clicks (10, 20, 30 dB nHL), bioactivity was simultaneously recorded with the reference electrode in four different locations (ipsilateral mastoid, contralateral mastoid, ipsilateral earlobe, and noncephalic electrode). The noncephalic reference produced the highest absolute and scaled amplitudes. This finding was statistically significant. For all investigated intensities, recording with the noncephalic reference electrode yielded the highest number of reliable detectable potentials. Evaluation of the residual noise in the four recording locations revealed a significantly increased noise level for the noncephalic electrode at the nape of the neck. Even if the residual noise is increased, the use of noncephalic reference results in a more reliable detection of wave V compared to the conventional locations of the reference electrode.

Influence of electrode position on near-threshold recording of auditory evoked brainstem potentials.

Use of brainstem potentials in audiology is based on identifying a response in the near-threshold range. Wave V has turned out to be the component of the brainstem potentials that can be detected with a great deal of reliability when assessment of the threshold for the particular stimulus is desirable. As the detection of Wave I can be dispensed within audiologic diagnosis, the question arises as to whether or not a non-cephalic reference electrode compared to the common lateral position of the reference electrode on the ipsilateral mastoid produces a more stable Wave V of increased amplitude. In a group of 20 normal-hearing adults, near-threshold stimulation with clicks was conducted and the brainstem potentials recorded simultaneously with the reference electrode placed in four different locations (ipsilateral mastoid, contralateral mastoid, non-cephalic electrode, and ipsilateral earlobe). At all of the three intensities studied (10 dB nHL, 20 dB nHL and 30 dB nHL), recording with the non-cephalic reference yielded the highest amplitudes, the finding being statistically significant.

Pharmaco-EEG Mapping of Diazepam Effects Using Different References and Absolute and Relative Power

The effects of diazepam on the EEG were studied by means of EEG topographic mapping, using recordings with four different references. Subjects were ten healthy, right-handed, male volunteers aged 21-25 years. Double-blind crossover trials with a single oral dose of 10 mg diazepam and placebo controls were conducted in random sequence at intervals of one week. Four referential derivations--ipsilateral earlobe (A1A2), average reference (AV), source derivation (SD), and balanced noncephalic electrode (BNE)--were used. One-minute vigilance-controlled EEGs before drug administration and two hours after drug administration were analyzed using Fourier transformation; absolute power and relative power were calculated for four frequency bands. Diazepam caused a widespread increase of beta-frequency relative power, and a widespread decrease of theta-frequency absolute power when A1A2 and SD were taken as references. From the comparison of different reference electrodes we conclude that the selection of the reference and of spectral parameters (absolute power or relative power) play an important role in pharmaco-EEG studies.

Area-specific self-regulation of slow cortical potentials on the sagittal midline and its effects on behavior

Exteroceptive feedback was given for negative and positive shirts in slow potentials (SPs) recorded from Fz, Cz, or Pz (between groups design). Slow potentials at the feedback site were referred to adjacent scalp and non-cephalic electrodes, so as to confine SP shifts to the feedback location. Area-specific regulation of SPs was obtained at each midsagittal site after 3 days of feedback training. Subjects reported sensorimotor and emotional arousal when negative SP shifts were trained frontally, but not when negative shifts were trained parietally (cognitive/attentional strategies reported after parietal feedback). Area-specific regulation of SPs was subsequently abolished when behavioral tasks were added to further probe frontal/ parietal differences (dual-task procedure). These findings indicate that area-specific self-regulation of SPs is possible on the sagittal midline, and that self-regulated parietal SPs (in contrast to frontal ones) arise from non-motoric generators. The source of SP self-regulation was more readily probed by verbal reports of feedback strategy than by study of dual-task relations, because feedback control was disrupted by the dual-task requirement.

Contribution of auditory evoked potentials to binaural processing

The contribution of the early (ABR), middle (MLR), and late (LLR) auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to binaural interaction (BI) was studied in 17 normal young adults. AEPs were recorded by an electrode at C2 and referenced to a noncephalic electrode at CVII. Filtering was between 10 and 3000 Hz for both the ABR and MLR, and between 1 and 500 Hz for the LLR. Rarefaction clicks with an intensity of 60 dB above threshold for wave V of the ABR were presented at 11.1/s for both the ABR and MLR, and at 1.7/s for the LLR. Two samples of 2000 trials each were averaged for right monaural, left monaural, and binaural stimulus presentation. The binaural interaction component (BIC) was obtained by subtracting the sum of the monaural responses from the binaural response. Maximum BI in the ABR occurred at 7.35 ms with a mean BIC of 23%. Maximum BI occurred in the MLR at 39.6 ms with a mean BI of 49%. Maximum BI of the LLR occurred at 145 ms with a mean BI of 46%. This would indicate that BI is primarily medicated at the time of the generation of the N40 component of the MLR and that binaural processes constitute a major function of the auditory pathway rostral to the pons. [Work supported by NIH Grant ♯NS-11876.]

EFFECTS OF HALOTHANE AND ENFLURANE ON FAR AND NEAR FIELD SOMATOSENSORY EVOKED POTENTIALS

Somatosensory potentials evoked in response to median nerve stimulation were studied in 10 patients during surgery under general anaesthesia with halothane (five patients) or enflurane (five patients). Bipolar scalp responses (near field) and scalp to non-cephalic reference (far field) potentials were recorded before the induction of anaesthesia, and after 15 min stabilization at each of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% end-tidal concentrations of anaesthetic agent. Both agents produced similar effects. The latency of the bipolar responses was increased and the amplitude decreased. The amplitude of the far field, subcortically generated, potentials measured from the scalp to non-cephalic electrodes did not decrease as much as the near field potential with increasing concentrations of volatile anaesthetic, although the latency of the potential recorded at the frontal electrode increased. At higher anaesthetic concentrations the virtual elimination of the near field potential caused the frontal and rolandic potentials to appear to be identical. Since far field somatosensory evoked potentials are preserved during deep anaesthesia, they should be considered for use when measurement of evoked responses is required for monitoring purposes.