Abstract
Visual evoked brain responses (VEBRs) to the onset (ON VEBR) and offset (OFF VEBR) of square wave white light flashes presented monocularly were recorded from the scalp of three adult humans. Stimuli were present in Maxwellian view, and subtended a visual angle of 1.5 deg. Target luminance was varied in.5 log unit steps over a 4.0 log unit range. For all subjects, the OFF VEBR was similar to the ON VEBR in appearance and latency, but smaller in amplitude. Both linear-log and log-log regression lines fit to the data indicate that peak latency of both ON and OFF VEBR measures decreases as a function of increasing luminance. Also, the amplitude of the VEBR increases as luminance increases. Comparable statistically significant ON and OFF VEBR regression lines are not significantly different in slope. These results do not support the notion that different neural systems mediate both ON and OFF VEBRs, thereby suggesting that the same or similar neural systems may mediate both VEBRs.
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The results reported are based on a thesis submitted by the first author to Saint Louis University in partial fulfillment of the MS degree.
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Dinges, D.F., Tepas, D.I. Luminance effects on visual evoked brain responses to flash onset and offset. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 8, 105–108 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335095
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335095