Use Of Event-related Potentials Research Articles

Effects of Hypnagogic Imagery on the Event-Related Potential to External Tone0Stimuli

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of hypnagogic imagery on the information processes of external tone stimuli during the sleep onset period with the use of event-related potentials. Event-related potentials to tone stimuli were compared between conditions with and without the experience of hypnagogic imagery. To control the arousal level when the tone was presented, a certain criterion named the electroencephalogram stage was used. Stimuli were presented at electroencephalogram stage 4, which was characterized by the appearance of a vertex sharp wave. Data were collected in the sleep laboratory at Hiroshima University. Eleven healthy university and graduate school students participated in the study. N/A. Experiments were performed at night. Reaction times to tone stimuli were measured, and only trials with shorter reaction times than 5000 milliseconds were analyzed. Electroencephalograms were recorded from Fz, Cz, Pz, Oz, T5 and T6. There were no differences in reaction times and electroencephalogram spectra between the conditions of with and without hypnagogic imagery. These results indicated that the arousal levels were not different between the 2 conditions. On the other hand, the N550 amplitude of the event-related potentials in the imagery condition was lower than in the no-imagery condition. The decrease in the N550 amplitude in the imagery condition showed that experiences of hypnagogic imagery exert some influence on the information processes of external tone stimuli. It is possible that the processing of hypnagogic imagery interferes with the processing of external stimuli, lowering the sensitivity to external stimuli.

The use of event related potentials in the study of early cognitive development

The article by Guillaume Thierry is a welcome one, alerting the field to the exciting ways in which event-related potentials (ERPs) can be used to study cognitive development. It is also timely: there is great interest in the brain sciences, and in how neuroscience can be applied to cognitive development and indeed to education. In my view, however, the article is perhaps too cautious. It does not seem necessary to delay the use of ERPs in cognitive work until all in the field have agreed on the sound characterization of ERP components. It should be possible for further characterization to proceed hand-in-hand with data gathering on applied questions. In fact, as partly noted by Thierry, in the auditory domain well-characterized ERP components are already available, even for infants (e.g. Cheour et al., 1997; Leppänen and Lyytinen, 1997). Furthermore, it is of developmental interest to study older children as well as infants. If ERPs are seen as a tool to complement existing behavioural investigations, rather than as a stand-alone method to be used independently, then auditory ERPs can certainly be used in current cognitive-developmental work. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The use of event-related potentials in the study of early cognitive development

Studying normal infant development is a challenge for cognitive scientists ingeneral and for neuroscientists in particular because (1) physiological indices ofinfant cognition are generally noisy and technically difficult to obtain and (2)inter-individual variability and a paucity of established results make datainterpretation very complex, even aside from the fact that one cannot overlookfundamental ethical issues on experimenting with infants. During the first year oflife in particular, infants cannot follow instructions, speech is as yet virtually non-existent; and it is difficult to obtain overt behavioural responses that meetstatistical validation criteria. For these reasons, studies of normal infantdevelopment have mainly capitalized on attentional capture paradigms whichmeasure the infant’s shifts of attention. Such paradigms include high amplitudesucking, preferential looking, and head turn protocols, in all of which overtbehavioural measures are assumed to relate to the infant’s perception andprocessing of stimuli. Electroencephalography and more specifically event-related potentials (ERPs), on the other hand, can offer an insight into brainimplicit responses to external events, even when no external behaviour isobserved. As a consequence, there is increasing interest in the use of ERPs for thestudy of early development. The purpose of this review is (a) to give a concise,non-exhaustive overview of the type of ERP experiments that have beenconducted with young infants, and (b) to address the central theoretical issue ofERP component interpretation in infancy.

Use of event-related potentials in predicting therapeutic outcomes in multiple sclerosis patients

Use of event-related potentials in predicting therapeutic outcomes in multiple sclerosis patients

Brain Imaging in Substance Abuse: Research, Clinical, and Forensic Applications

Chapter 1. Electroencephalography, Topographic Mapping, and Event-Related Potentials in Substance Abuse Research, Elena M. Kouri, PhD and Scott E. Lukas, PhD. History of the Electroencephalogram, Recording the Electroencephalogram, Analysis of the EEG, Topographic Mapping, Artifact Avoidance, Utility of Electroencephalographic Techniques in Substance Abuse Research, Event-Related Potentials, Utility of Event-Related Potentials in Substance Abuse Research, Caveats in Interpreting Electrophysiologic Data in Substance Abuse Research, Future Directions, Acknowledgments, References. Chapter 2. Positron Emission Tomography and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography: Methods and Applications in Substance Abuse Research, Robert T. Malison, MD. Introduction, Principles Underlying Positron Emission Tomography and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography, Basic Limitations of Positron Emission Tomography and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography, Applications in Substance Abuse Research, Conclusions, References. Chapter 3. Fundamentals of Magnetic Resonance, Perry F. Renshaw, MD, PhD, Blaise deB. Frederick, PhD, and Luis C. Maas III, MD, PhD. Introduction, General Principles, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Other Magnetic Resonance Methods, Summary, Acknowledgments, References. Chapter 4. Electroencephalographic Studies of Substance Use and Abuse, Lance O. Bauer, PhD. Introduction, Electroencephalographic Studies of Acute Effects of Psychoactive Drugs, Electroencephalographic Studies of Chronic Substance Abusers, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References. Chapter 5. Emission Tomographic Studies in Substance Abuse, Jonathan M. Levin, MD, MPH. Introduction, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Marijuana, Hallucinogens, Benzodiazepines, Heroin and Opiates, Cocaine, Amphetamine and Methamphetamine, Methylphenidate, Solvents ('Thinners') and Toluene, Conclusions, Acknowledgment, References. Chapter 6. Magnetic Resonance Findings in Substance Abuse, Marc J. Kaufman, PhD and Jonathan M. Levin, MD, MPH. Introduction, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Marijuana and Hallucinogens, Benzodiazepines, Heroin and Opiates, Cocaine, Amphetamine and Other Stimulants, Solvent Abuse and Occupational Exposure, Polydrug Abuse, Concluding Remarks, Acknowledgments, References. Chapter 7. Neuropsychological Correlates of Drug Abuse, Staci A. Gruber, EdM and Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd, PhD. Introduction, Alcohol, Marijuana, Hallucinogens, Benzodiazepines, Opiates, Cocaine, Amphetamine and Other Stimulants, Solvents, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, References. Chapter 8. Neuroimages as Legal Evidence, Jennifer J. Kulynych, JD, PhD and Douglas W. Jones, PhD. Introduction, Science and the Law, Neuroimages as Psychiatric Evidence, Substance Abuse, Neuroimaging, and Crime, Conclusion, References. Glossary. Bibliography of Research Studies in Substance Abuse, Marc J. Kaufman, PhD. Introduction to the Bibliography, Bibliography Table of Contents, EEG and Evoked Potentials, Emission Tomography, Magnetic Resonance, Neuropsychology. Index.

Brain potentials in the processing of complex sentences: an ERP study of control and raising constructions.

In the present study we made use of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to examine raising and subject control constructions in German. Our most salient result is that the ERPs elicited at the empty subject position of a raising construction are clearly different from those elicited at the corresponding position of an otherwise identical subject control construction, the former producing a stronger P600. We argue that this result provides an electrophysiological correlate of the theoretical distinction between NP trace and PRO.

Can we exploit event-related potentials for retraining language after stroke?

Purpose : To ascertain the utility of event-related potentials in studying language processing in patients suffering from aphasia. Methods : Recent methods to evaluate event related potentials in response to spoken words were applied in two young patients suffering from a recent aphasia in whom expressive deficits were particularly marked. Recordings were made on three occasions for each patient at the same time of the day. The second recording session took place after six months and the final one after one year. Eighteen right-handed subjects in normal health (10 women, 8 men) were enrolled as controls. Results : Three kinds of potential were obtained over time, P300, P340 and N400. P300 was useful to monitor attention and discrimination. It improved over time. Both of our patients lacked a defined P340 potential, but longitudinal recordings could show a very slow reappearance over time although with a frequently inverted polarity. Apparently, the expressive aphasia did not improve over a one year interval. In contrast to P340, N400 was relatively preserved. This potential is linked to semantic judgement. The patients with relatively preserved comprehension were able to exhibit a N400 soon after stroke. The bilateral representation indicated that the right hemisphere was involved in some kind of language processing. Conclusion : The results indicate that digitized spoken words appear to be an appropriate tool because they permit the study of EEG changes on a millisecond-to-millisecond basis. Apparently, ERPs enable us to study receptive processes in patients with expressive aphasia. Moreover, they appear to be particularly suitable for monitoring the recovery of neural mechanisms responsible for language.

The Predictive Use of Event-Related Potentials in Language Development and the Treatment of Language Disorders

(1999). The Predictive Use of Event-Related Potentials in Language Development and the Treatment of Language Disorders. Developmental Neuropsychology: Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 373-377.

Prognostic Value of Electrophysiological Markers in Alzheimer's Disease

The authors assessed the usefulness of event-related potentials (ERP) and flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP) as prognostic markers in a sample of 25 subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). ERP and FVEP recordings were obtained from 21 and 23 subjects, respectively. Ranking of the annual rate of change in cognitive scales vs. baseline ERP/FVEP latencies was compared, and those with longer FVEP N(2) component latencies showed slower subsequent rates of decline (tau=0.32; z=2.16; P=0.015), suggesting that further study of FVEP responses as prognostic markers in AD is warranted.

The use of event-related potentials in association with neuropsychological tests in the assessment of cognition

The use of event-related potentials in association with neuropsychological tests in the assessment of cognition

Event-related potentials in complex partial seizures.

Both early (N1 and P2) and late (N2 and P3) event-related potentials (ERP) were obtained in 16 patients with complex partial seizures, 12 with left hemispheric ictal focus and 4 with right, to see if they help in lateralizing the seizure focus, and also to determine if they correlate with behavioral (MMPI, Bear-Fedio), attentional (Trails A and B), cognitive (WAIS-R, Boston Naming, Warrington Word and Face recognition) and mental speed (Stroop color naming and reading) tasks. Early waves were more often lateralized than late waves but both were often falsely lateralizing. Early waves were better correlated with behavioral tasks whereas late waves were better with those measuring mental speed, attention and cognition. These data tentatively discourage the utility of ERP in preoperative lateralization of seizure focus but argue for their potential value in psychophysiological correlations.

Event-related potentials and cognition: On unexpected events and on the utility of event-related potentials

Event-related potentials and cognition: On unexpected events and on the utility of event-related potentials

The use of event-related potentials in the study of brain asymmetries.

The utility of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in the study of hemispheric specialization is discussed in the context of three experimental cases: the application of motor potentials to the "continuous flow" model of human information processing, investigations of the role of early experience in cerebral organization, and hemispheric asymmetries in phonemic recoding during reading. The importance of the electrical reference in ERP records is stressed.

Neuroelectric correlates of a neuropsychological model of word decoding and semantic processing in normal children.

The use of event-related potentials (ERPS) as a technique in the study of word decoding and semantic processing in the cerebral cortex was investigated. Ten right-handed boys, aged between nine and eleven, with adequate school performance were studied. Visual ERPS were obtained using four derivations: occipital (O1-O2) and parietal (P3-P4). Four stimuli were presented: a frequently used noun written in capitals; the same noun in handwriting; the pictorial representation of this noun (drawing); and a pattern consisting of a checkerboard (25 squares). The data were analyzed using multivariate procedures. A Principal Component Analysis with varimax rotation of the solution was applied. Concepts about reading contributed by cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and neurophysiological research are reviewed, and a hypothetical model of the neuronal bases underlying the act of reading is presented. This model emphasizes the complex, dynamic interplay of the neural structures involved and points to the differences which probably exist between beginning and fluent readers. The results are discussed in accordance with the proposed model.

Event-Related Potentials in Psychiatry: Approaches to Research and Clinical Applications

This article suggests that the potential usefulness of event-related potentials in psychiatry has not been fully explored because of the limitations of various approaches to research adopted to date, and because the field is still undergoing rapid development. Newer approaches to data acquisition and methods of analysis, combined with closer co-operation between medical and physical scientists, will help to establish the practical application of these signals in psychiatric disorders and assist our understanding of psychophysiological information processing in the brain. Finally, it is suggested that psychiatrists should seek to understand these techniques and the data they generate, since they provide more direct access to measures of complex cerebral processes than current clinical methods.

An Event-Related Potential Analysis of Coding Processes in Human Memory

This chapter discusses an event-related potential (ERP) analysis of coding processes in human memory. The endogenous ERPs have been shown to vary in the context of learning and memory tasks. For example, several lines of evidence indicate that the contingent negative variation (CNV) and P300 components reflect the processes of acquisition and retention in short term memory situations. One question to emerge from these results is the extent to which ERP changes can be related to retention over the longer term, i.e., in situations where memory is not tested immediately on every trial. It would be of interest to observe the extent to which ERPs reflect the level of perceptual processing at acquisition, and how such processing manifests itself in memory performance. Phonemic encodings yield intermediate performance. An ancillary finding is that words yielding a “yes” response to a query are better remembered than those yielding a “no” response in phonemic and semantic levels of processing. These effects have been obtained in a number of other experiments and represent a robust behavioral phenomenon with which to test the utility of ERPs as indices of learning and memory.