RT Journal Article
T1 Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials Can Be Explained by Temporal Superposition of Transient Event-Related Responses
A1 Capilla, Almudena
A1 Pazo Álvarez, Paula
A1 Darriba Domínguez, Álvaro
A1 Campo, Pablo
A1 Gross, Joachim
AB BackgroundOne common criterion for classifying electrophysiological brain responses is based on the distinction between transient (i.e. event-related potentials, ERPs) and steady-state responses (SSRs). The generation of SSRs is usually attributed to the entrainment of a neural rhythm driven by the stimulus train. However, a more parsimonious account suggests that SSRs might result from the linear addition of the transient responses elicited by each stimulus. This study aimed to investigate this possibility.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe recorded brain potentials elicited by a checkerboard stimulus reversing at different rates. We modeled SSRs by sequentially shifting and linearly adding rate-specific ERPs. Our results show a strong resemblance between recorded and synthetic SSRs, supporting the superposition hypothesis. Furthermore, we did not find evidence of entrainment of a neural oscillation at the stimulation frequency.Conclusions/SignificanceThis study provides evidence that visual SSRs can be explained as a superposition of transient ERPs. These findings have critical implications in our current understanding of brain oscillations. Contrary to the idea that neural networks can be tuned to a wide range of frequencies, our findings rather suggest that the oscillatory response of a given neural network is constrained within its natural frequency range
PB PLOS
YR 2011
FD 2011
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21428
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21428
LA eng
NO Capilla A, Pazo-Alvarez P, Darriba A, Campo P, Gross J (2011) Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials Can Be Explained by Temporal Superposition of Transient Event-Related Responses. PLoS ONE 6(1): e14543
NO This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (2008-0168 Postdoctoral Fellowship to A. Capilla; and RYC-2010-05748 Ramón y Cajal Fellowship to P. Campo)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026