P300 as the resolution of negative cortical DC shifts

Probing interval timing with scalp-recorded electroencephalography (EEG)

Humans, and other animals, are able to easily learn the durations of events and the temporal relationships among them in spite of the absence of a dedicated sensory organ for time. This chapter summarizes the investigation of timing and time perception using scalp-recorded electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive technique that measures brain electrical potentials on a millisecond time scale. Over the past several decades, much has been learned about interval timing through the examination of the characteristic features of averaged EEG signals (i.e., event-related potentials, ERPs) elicited in timing paradigms. For example, the mismatch negativity (MMN) and omission potential (OP) have been used to study implicit and explicit timing, respectively, the P300 has been used to investigate temporal memory updating, and the contingent negative variation (CNV) has been used as an index of temporal decision making. In sum, EEG measures provide biomarkers of temporal processing that allow researchers to probe the cognitive and neural substrates underlying time perception.

Anterior Frontal Cortex and the Effect of Proactive Interference in Paired Associate Learning: A DC Potential Study

This contribution focuses on neurophysiological correlates of the cerebral processes subserving the control of proactive interference. Event-related negative shifts of the scalp-recorded cortical steady potential (negative DC shifts) were measured in 17 right-handed normals during two tasks of paired associate learning. The control condition was a standard word pair learning task in which unrelated word pairs were presented. In the experimental condition, proactive interference was maximized by presenting very similar words and by requiring negative transfer, i.e., by having them reappear, but in different pairings. Proactive interference leads to increased anterior frontal negative DC shifts. Furthermore, centrotemporal negative DC shifts predicted subsequent cued recall performance. In spite of elaborative strategies, an effect of subsequent mnestic performance on the P300 was observed.

The temporal orienting P3 effect to non-target stimuli: does it reflect motor inhibition?

Temporal orienting enhances early (N1) and late (P3) stages of auditory processing. However, the functional significance of these effects has not been settled yet. The present study tested a motor inhibition account on the temporal orienting P3 effect to non-target stimuli. A temporal cuing paradigm was used, where the level of motor preparation (high vs. low) was varied: If motor preparation is higher, more inhibition is necessary to withhold a response when a non-target is presented at the attended time point. Consequently, if the enhanced P3 to temporally attended non-targets reflected increased motor inhibition, higher motor preparation should further enhance the P3. Overall, temporal orienting enhanced both the N1 and the P3, thus replicating earlier findings. Moreover, the temporal orienting P3 effect was larger when motor preparation was higher. Inconsistent with the motor-inhibition account, however, the P3 to temporally attended non-targets did not differ as a function of motor preparation.

Neurophysiological and neuropsychological differences related to performance and verbal abilities in subjects with mild intellectual disability

The present study compared two group of subjects with intellectual disability. The 44 subjects in group 1 had equivalent verbal and performance IQs (67 and 64, respectively), while the 12 subjects in group 2 had an intellectual performance IQ which was > or = 10 points above their verbal performance IQ (80 and 65, respectively). The second group showed an alpha peak at a higher frequency and an evoked potential closer to normality. The decrease in the voltage of the P300 wave in group 1 was especially significant. The cognitive evoked potentials were also different between the two groups.

Slow cortical potential shifts modulate P300 amplitude and topography in humans

Effects of the spontaneous slow cortical potential (SCP) shifts of the electroencephalogram (EEG) on the P300 response were investigated on ten healthy volunteers. P300 responses were recorded using an auditory oddball paradigm, where target stimuli were presented regularly after every four standard stimuli. Single event-related potential (ERP) sweeps exhibiting negative or positive SCP shifts were averaged separately. The P300 amplitude was significantly larger during negative SCP shifts. Furthermore, the topographies of P200 and P300 waves obtained during negative and positive SCP shifts showed significant differences. The results indicate that the SCP shifts in single ERP sweeps, which are considered to be correlated with the arousal or basic activity level of the cortex, explain at least part of the inter-trial variability of P300 response.

Responses to irrelevant probes during task-induced negative and positive shifts

The functional significance of task-induced negative and positive cortical shifts were tested with the probe-stimulus method. Both shifts were induced within the same experimental situation in three variants of a CNV paradigm, where a slow positive wave (a variant of P300) appeared following S2. In Experiment I and II, S2 called for making or withholding a motor response (go/no-go); in Experiment III, S2 informed the subject about the correctness of a previous guess. Irrelevant probe-stimuli were applied in conjunction with the task during the CNV, the post-S2 positivity and the intertrial interval (ITI). The probe-evoked vertex EPs were smaller during the post-S2 positivity as compared to the CNV and the ITI. This was true not only for the motor task but also for the guessing task, where the effect is unlikely to have been contaminated by motor potentials. This indicates that positive shifts have an inhibitory effect on the processing of irrelevant probe-stimuli and possibly on information-processing in general.

Readiness to respond in a target detection task: pre- and post-stimulus event-related potentials in normal subjects

Brain potentials were recorded from 12 normal subjects engaged in an auditory target detection task (target stimulus probability of 0.2, stimulus rate of 1 every 2 sec) when instructions were (1) to press a response button with the thumb of the dominant hand to each target or (2) to keep a mental count of each target. A pre-stimulus slow negative potential was identified before every stimulus except non-targets immediately after targets. The amplitude of the pre-stimulus negativity was significantly affected by task instructions and was up to 4 times larger during the button press than the mental count condition. In contrast, the amplitudes and latencies of the event-related components (N100, P200, N200 and P300), when slow potentials were removed by filtering, were not different as a function of press or count instructions. The immediately preceding stimulus sequence affected both the amplitude and onset latency of the pre-stimulus negativity; both measures increased as the number of preceding non-targets increased. The amplitude of the pre-stimulus negative shift to targets also increased significantly as RT speed decreased. The major portion of the pre-stimulus negative potential is considered a readiness potential (RP) reflecting preparations to make a motor response. The amplitude of the RP during the target detection task did not significantly lateralize in contrast to the RP accompanying self-paced movements.

[P3on and P3off in a passive visual protocol]

This study shows the possibility of obtaining visual event-related potentials without active discrimination instructions. The components are similar to the P3 components obtained in classic active protocol. The (P3off) of simple images indicates an interpretation in terms of information processing and change in mental state.