Effect of optical defocus on the steady state pattern reversal visual-evoked response

Prognostic Value of Visual Evoked Responses in Childhood Amblyopia

We assessed the possible clinical utility of pattern reversal visual evoked potentials in predicting the success of pleoptic treatment. Thirty amblyopic children –- 16 strabismic, 11 anisometropic and three of refractive type (in all cases the amblyopia was monocular) –- and ten children without amblyopia (control group) were examined by conventional psychometric methods. Visual evoked potentials (VEP) to pattern reversal stimulation were also recorded. The amblyopic group was treated with occlusion of the preferred eye for three to six months. Psychometric and VEP tests were repeated in 15 amblyopic children after the treatment. The pre-treatment VEP amplitude side-differences (between amblyopic and better fellow eye) were significant, with first positive wave, P1, being invariably lower on the amblyopic side. We correlated the side-differences in visual acuity with the corresponding side-differences in amplitude and latency of the P1 wave. In the former the correlation coefficient was r = 0.47 (p<0.01), and in the latter r = 0.65 (p<0.01). Latency was prolonged in the eyes with significantly reduced visual acuity in which the wave form was also typical for amblyopia. We then correlated the difference between pre- and post- treatment visual acuity of the amblyopic eye with the pre- and post-treatment difference in amplitude (correlation coeff. r-0.51 (p=0.05)) and latency of the P1 wave (correlation coeff. r=0.40 (p>0.05)). Finally, by correlating the pre- and post-treatment difference in visual acuity with the pretreatment P1 amplitude and latency (for the former, there was no regular interdependence, and for the latter r=-0.64 (p=0.01)), we tried to test our assumption that an alteration of VEP indicates poor visual rehabilitation of the amblyopic eye. Although the correlation was not unanimous, this study showed that VEP recording may still serve as an extra aid in predicting the therapeutic outcome in amblyopic children.

Prediction of higher visual function in macular degeneration with multifocal electroretinogram and multifocal visual evoked potential

OBJECTIVE

Visual search can be guided by past experience of regularities in our visual environment. This search guidance by contextual memory cues is impaired by foveal vision loss. Here we compared retinal and cortical visually evoked responses in their predictive value for contextual cueing impairment and visual acuity.

METHODS

Multifocal electroretinograms to flash stimulation (mfERGs; 103 locations; 55.8° diameter) and visual evoked potentials to pattern-reversal stimulation (mfVEPs; 60 locations; 48.6° diameter) were recorded monocularly in participants with age-related macular degeneration (n = 14 and 16, respectively). Response magnitudes were calculated as the respective signal-to-noise ratios for each eccentricity. Visual acuities (logMAR, range: 0.0-1.2) and contextual cueing effects on visual search (reaction time gain, range: -0.14-0.15) were correlated with the signal-to-noise ratios. A step-wise regression analysis was applied separately to the mfERG- and mfVEP-dataset to determine the eccentricity range and the processing stage that is critical for these visual functions.

RESULTS

Central mfERGs (1.0-3.2°) were the sole predictor of contextual cueing of visual search (p = 0.006), but they were not significant predictors of visual acuity. In contrast, central mfVEPs (1.3-3.2°) were the sole predictor of visual acuity (p < 0.001), but they were not significant predictors of contextual cueing.

CONCLUSIONS

Contextual cueing is more dependent on parafoveal mfERG magnitude while visual acuity is more dependent on parafoveal mfVEP magnitude. The relation of contextual cueing to parafoveal mfERG magnitudes indicates the predictive value of retinal bipolar cell activity for this advanced level of visual function.

Differential effects of optic media opacities on mfERGs and mfVEPs

OBJECTIVE

To assess different effects of image degradation that could result from optic media opacities on multifocal retinal (mfERG) and cortical responses (mfVEP).

METHODS

Monocular flash-mfERGs and pattern-reversal mfVEPs were recorded. MfERG-P1 amplitudes and implicit times and mfVEP root-mean-square values (RMS) and delays were compared for different filter conditions (none, 8% luminance, 50% luminance, 50% luminance plus blur) in a total of ten participants with normal vision.

RESULTS

Reducing stimulus luminance down to 50% and 8% reduced mfERG amplitudes to 86% and 42%, respectively, with no significant effect on mfVEP amplitude. Implicit times were increased for mfERGs by 0.9 ms and 6.0 ms, respectively, and for mfVEPs by 1.0 ms and 6.3 ms, respectively. For '50% luminance plus blur' mfERG amplitudes were significantly reduced centrally and enhanced peripherally and delayed by 1.3 ms. MfVEPs were reduced close to noise level independent of eccentricity.

CONCLUSIONS

Degradation of the retinal image is a potential source of discrepancies between mfERGs and mfVEPs. Image blur suppresses the mfVEP at all locations and changes mfERG topography, resulting in a selective loss of central responses.

SIGNIFICANCE

Considering optic media opacities is of importance for the correct interpretation of mfERG and mfVEP recordings, particularly in elderly patients.

Effect of defocusing and of distracted attention upon recordings of the visual evoked potential

Pattern reversal visual stimuli are used to evoke potentials (VEPs) for assessment of visual acuity and for localizing defects along the visual pathways. Our goal was to assess the importance of attention and defocusing to the recordings of pattern VEP. Forty-one volunteers with normal (6/6) corrected visual acuity participated in this study. Twenty-one were asked to defocus intentionally the visual stimulus (located 200 cm away) by fixating at a target 25 or 50 cm from the eye. Twenty other subjects performed auditory tasks to distract their attention from the visual stimulus. Pattern VEPs were elicited by different check sizes. The amplitude and time-to-peak of the P100 wave were measured. Intentional defocusing caused amplitude reduction and prolongation of the time-to-peak in young subjects (20-34 years old). With the smallest checks used (7.5') we could not record a reliable response from 43% of the young subjects (6 out of 14). In older patients (35-61 years old), intentional defocusing induced negligible effects on pattern VEPs regardless of check size. There were no effects of auditory distraction upon the pattern VEPs. Our data suggest that intentional defocusing can produce false positive results (reduced VEP with prolonged time-to-peak) only when small checks are used in young subjects. Divided attention has negligible effect on the recordings of pattern VEPs. With proper controls, the pattern VEP test can be used for objective assessment of visual function.

The influence of defocus on multifocal visual evoked potentials

BACKGROUND

In order to assess the influence of optical factors on the multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP), we obtained mfVEPs with optimal refraction and compared them to recordings with various degrees of dioptrical defocus.

METHODS

Monocular mfVEPs were recorded from the right eye in eight normal subjects. Dartboard stimuli with 60 sectors arranged in six concentric annuli spanning 60 degrees were generated with a VERIS system and presented on a computer monitor. Two pairs of electrodes were placed 3 cm above and below and 3 cm to the right and left of the inion. Two sets of mfVEP records per subject were obtained, one with best-corrected visual acuity and another when the stimulus was defocused by +1.0, +2.0 or +3.0 D. A signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measure was calculated for every response from the two channels.

RESULTS

The effect of defocus depended on eccentricity: when defocus was at +2.0 D and higher, reducing visual acuity to <0.3, the central mfVEP responses were reduced to approximately 60%, while defocus had no marked effect at eccentricities >7 degrees.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that, in contrast to the mfERG, the mfVEP requires optimal refraction to correctly assess the cortical responses.

Eye dominance in the visual cortex using functional MRI at 1.5 T: an alternative method

PURPOSE

To develop a functional MRI method for producing eye dominance histograms in humans at 1.5 Tesla (T).

METHODS

In the first set of experiments, 8 normal persons were tested. The eye dominance of each voxel within the person's visually activated primary visual cortex was determined with Student t statistics during a left eye versus right eye contrast. Eye dominance distribution was plotted, and the mean t statistic was used to describe the histogram asymmetry. In the second set of experiments, the effect of monocular optical blur and decreased luminance via filter was studied, and eye dominance distributions were similarly determined.

RESULTS

The eye dominance histogram in each of the 8 normals was approximately symmetric; the average mean t value was +0.13. All 4 subjects with the right eye blurred had histograms approximately symmetric or slightly shifted toward the left eye (average mean t = +0.56), and all 4 subjects with the right eye filtered had histograms dramatically shifted toward the left eye (average mean t = +2.22). The average mean t for the group with the right eye filtered was significantly different from that of the other 2 groups (P <.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

With noninvasive methods in normal persons, functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques at 1.5 T were able to characterize the distribution of eye dominance of voxels in primary visual cortex, based upon their t statistic in the left eye versus right eye contrast. The method is sensitive to filtering but relatively insensitive to visual blur. This approach may have a future use in the study of amblyopia in humans.

Acuity predictions from visually evoked potential to checkerboard pattern reversal stimuli: the effect of reversal rate

INTRODUCTION: A pattern reversal stimulus (check size 5.5 minutes of arc) was used to elicit the visually evoked potential (VEP). METHODS: The peak to trough amplitude of the VEP wave was measured and compared to subjective visual acuity (Landolt C). The recordings were made at three, six and 12 pattern reversals per second. RESULTS: The correlation between VEP amplitude and visual acuity was found to decrease at higher temporal frequencies. The decrease is not confined to the use of a television system reversing checkerboard pattern stimulus as suggested by previous workers. DISCUSSION: It may well be concerned with a change in processing of the visual information as could be expected at these higher frequencies.

Comparison of Snellen acuity and objective assessment using the spatial frequency sweep PVER

BACKGROUND

We compared the vision objectively assessed by spatial frequency sweep pattern-reversal visual-evoked response (SPVER) with the Snellen acuity in patients.

METHODS

SPVER acuity and Snellen acuity were measured in 100 patients with various ocular pathologies, including macular diseases, diffuse retinal degeneration, optic nerve diseases, glaucoma, and high myopia. For SPVER, 10 sinusoidally modulated vertical gratings were presented as stimuli. The responses were averaged and displayed through the discrete Fourier transform on the monitor display. The PVER acuity was determined by extrapolating the SPVER amplitude-spatial frequency function to baseline.

RESULTS

Vision ranged from 20/15 to 20/400 with Snellen acuity, and from 20/25 to 20/190 with SPVER. The overall correlation between the two acuities was r = 0.666. The correlation varied from r = 0.895 in eyes with glaucoma to r = 0.436 in eyes with optic nerve disease. Seventy-seven eyes (77%) had a visual acuity agreement of within 1.0 octave between the two measurements.

CONCLUSION

The SPVER acuity and the Snellen acuity correlated to a certain degree. Discrepancies were found in certain diseases, with the highest disparity in patients with optic nerve disease. We conclude that the SPVER is effective in estimating vision objectively, particularly in patients in whom the standard Snellen test is impossible to perform or yields unreliable results.

Spatial frequency sweep pattern reversal VER acuity vs Snellen visual acuity: effect of optical defocus

The effect of artificially induced image defocusing on visual acuities (VAs) measured by spatial frequency sweep pattern reversal visual evoked response (SPVER) and Snellen measurement was studied in six normal subjects. The steady-state SPVER was recorded using vertical gratings of 10 different spatial frequencies ranging from 0.52 to 30.36 c/deg. The SPVER acuity was compared with Snellen acuity (SA) measured under the same conditions of optical defocus. With moderate defocusing [< + 1.0 diopter (D), VA > 20/40], the SPVER acuities were equal to or poorer than the SAs. With more defocus (> + 1.5 D, VA < 20/70), the SPVER acuities became better than the SAs. The discrepancies between the SA and SPVER acuities may be the result of the influence of the parafoveal area on the SPVER at lower visual acuity levels.

Pattern reversal visual evoked response and Snellen visual acuity

Because the pattern-reversal visual evoked response (PVER) reflects the central retinal function, PVER results generally agree with those of psychophysical tests. The visual acuities (VAs) calculated from PVER recordings and Snellen acuity (SA) measurements were compared in 500 eyes (261 patients; ages 8 to 88 years; mean, 44.5 years). The best-corrected VA was measured using the ETDRS chart, and the PVER acuity was determined by the smallest check size that produced a definite PVER (critical check size). In 288 eyes with a critical check size of 10 min of arc, the SAs ranged from 20/15 to 20/800 (mean 20/38). In 68 eyes with a critical check size of 20 min, the SAs ranged from 20/15 to 20/800 (mean 20/97). In 70 eyes with a critical check size of 40 min, the SAs ranged from 20/20 to 20/1600 (mean 20/156). In 29 eyes with a critical check size of 80 min and 14 eyes with a critical check size of 160 min, the SAs ranged from 20/50 to 20/1600 (mean 20/312 and 20/398, respectively). In 31 eyes in which the PVER was non-recordable, the SAs ranged from 20/70 to 20/3200 (mean 20/1177). The PVER acuity using the smallest check size seemed to agree with the SA, but large deviations were observed in certain subjects.

Effects of light scatter, defocusing, mean luminosity, contrast, and central scotoma on the PVER amplitude-check size function curve

We analyzed the effects of various stimulus parameters, ie, light scatter, defocusing, mean luminosity, contrast, and central scotoma, on the normal pattern reversal visual evoked response (PVER), amplitude-check size function curve in six normal subjects. The steady-state PVER was recorded with five check sizes ranging from 160 to 10 min in 1-octave increments. The PVER amplitude, especially with the smaller check sizes, was markedly decreased by light scatter induced by acrylic sheets. The function curve quickly changed to a low pass filter shape when +2.0 diopters of defocus were added, with the decrease most marked in the small check sizes. When the mean luminosity was decreased, the function curve maintained its normal inverted-U shape up to 5 cd/m2, but the shape flattened with lower luminosity. Amplitude decreases were seen with all check sizes in low luminosity. With contrast changes from 95 to 24%, the function curve maintained its normal shape, but with slightly reduced amplitudes. The amplitude decrease was moderate even with the lowest contrast. With a two-degree central scotoma, the PVER amplitude was reduced more with the smaller than the larger check sizes. The function curve became somewhat flatter, with its peak shifting to the larger check sizes. Results indicated that the shape of the PVER amplitude-check size function curve changes in response to different modes of stimulation.

Effect of light scatter on the pattern reversal visual evoked response: comparison with psychophysical results

The effect of light scatter on the pattern reversal visual evoked response (PVER) was studied in 6 normal subjects. The results were compared with contrast visual acuity, contrast sensitivity function, and glare disability. Light scatter was induced by translucent acrylic sheets. Visual acuity measured with the low-contrast charts decreased significantly (P < 0.0001) even with a small degree of light scatter. Contrast sensitivity decreased with a small degree of light scatter especially for high spatial frequencies. PVER amplitudes decreased especially at the smaller checks with its peak shifted to larger checks. PVER was equally sensitive to light scatter compared to psychophysical tests.

Pattern reversal visual-evoked response as a prognostic indicator in macular gliosis

We recorded the preoperative pattern reversal visual-evoked responses in 16 subjects (16 eyes) with macular gliosis who underwent membrane-peeling operations. A postoperative visual improvement of one octave or more was observed in 11 of 16 eyes (68.8%). Preoperatively, ten eyes had peak amplitudes greater than or equal to 2 microV, all 11 eyes had either lowpass or bandpass curve shapes, and ten eyes had recordable responses to 20- or 10-minutes of an arc check sizes. Each of the three preoperative criteria was significantly associated with a postoperative visual improvement of one octave or more (P = .01, .02, and .02, respectively). These results demonstrate that the preoperative pattern reversal visual-evoked response can objectively assess the function of the underlying macula in patients with macular gliosis and, consequently, is helpful in determining which patient would most likely benefit from a membrane-peeling operation.