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Amplitude modulation of steady-state visual evoked potentials by event-related potentials in a working memory task

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Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the amplitude and phase of the steady-state visual-evoked potential (SSVEP) can be influenced by a cognitive task, yet the mechanism of this influence has not been understood. As the event-related potential (ERP) is the direct neural electric response to a cognitive task, studying the relationship between the SSVEP and ERP would be meaningful in understanding this underlying mechanism. In this work, the traditional average method was applied to extract the ERP directly, following the stimulus of a working memory task, while a technique named steady-state probe topography was utilized to estimate the SSVEP under the simultaneous stimulus of an 8.3-Hz flicker and a working memory task; a comparison between the ERP and SSVEP was completed. The results show that the ERP can modulate the SSVEP amplitude, and for regions where both SSVEP and ERP are strong, the modulation depth is large.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the 973 project 2003CB716106, NSFC (#60904072) and Science and Technology Bureau of Sichuan Province (#2009FZ0058). Thanks to Mr. Liao Xiang and Ms. Wu Dan for their help in data collection. The authors would also like to thank Prof. Tang and Ms. Arrione Clark and Dr. Luduan Zhang for their help in correcting the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China

    Zhenghua Wu, Yu Tang & Sheng Su

  2. Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China

    Zhenghua Wu & Dezhong Yao

  3. The Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000, China

    Yilan Huang

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  1. Zhenghua Wu
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  2. Dezhong Yao
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Correspondence to Zhenghua Wu.

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Wu, Z., Yao, D., Tang, Y. et al. Amplitude modulation of steady-state visual evoked potentials by event-related potentials in a working memory task. J Biol Phys 36, 261–271 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-009-9181-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-009-9181-9

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