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Steady-state visually evoked potential correlates of human body perception

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Abstract

In cognitive neuroscience, interest in the neuronal basis underlying the processing of human bodies is steadily increasing. Based on functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, it is assumed that the processing of pictures of human bodies is anchored in a network of specialized brain areas comprising the extrastriate and the fusiform body area (EBA, FBA). An alternative to examine the dynamics within these networks is electroencephalography, more specifically so-called steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs). In SSVEP tasks, a visual stimulus is presented repetitively at a predefined flickering rate and typically elicits a continuous oscillatory brain response at this frequency. This brain response is characterized by an excellent signal-to-noise ratio—a major advantage for source reconstructions. The main goal of present study was to demonstrate the feasibility of this method to study human body perception. To that end, we presented pictures of bodies and contrasted the resulting SSVEPs to two control conditions, i.e., non-objects and pictures of everyday objects (chairs). We found specific SSVEPs amplitude differences between bodies and both control conditions. Source reconstructions localized the SSVEP generators to a network of temporal, occipital and parietal areas. Interestingly, only body perception resulted in activity differences in middle temporal and lateral occipitotemporal areas, most likely reflecting the EBA/FBA.

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Notes

  1. Statistical comparisons in source space were carried out by means of Hotelling t 2 tests. This approach does not provide information regarding the direction of significant effects. Nonetheless, it seems a valid assumption that the amplitudes as measures with scalp electrodes are equivalent to the strength of the current densities in source space.

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  1. Institute of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Osnabrück University, Knollstraße 15, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany

    Claire-Marie Giabbiconi, Verena Jurilj & Silja Vocks

  2. Institute of Psychology, Experimental Psychology I, Osnabrück University, Seminarstraße 20, 49074, Osnabrück, Germany

    Thomas Gruber

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  1. Claire-Marie Giabbiconi
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  2. Verena Jurilj
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Correspondence to Claire-Marie Giabbiconi.

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Giabbiconi, CM., Jurilj, V., Gruber, T. et al. Steady-state visually evoked potential correlates of human body perception. Exp Brain Res 234, 3133–3143 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-016-4711-8

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