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Scalp Topography and Intracerebral Sources for ERPs Recorded During Auditory Target Detection

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Summary

The goal of this study was to measure the scalp topography of the event-related potentials (ERPs) during the detection of improbable auditory targets and to determine the intracerebral sources of these potentials. ERPs were recorded when subjects listened to a sequence of spoken words and detected occasional (p = 0.2) targets defined either by the gender of the speaker (male/female) or the meaning of the word (animate/inanimate). Waveforms were evaluated in relation to category (target versus standard) and task (voice versus semantic). Dipole source analysis was performed using locations obtained from fMRI. Fronto-central negative waves (N450 and N600 ms) generated by sources in both the auditory cortex and frontal regions were larger for semantic tasks and larger over the left hemisphere. A large parieto-occipital positive wave (P700) occurring with a peak latency about 150 ms before the reaction time was mainly generated in the left temporo-parietal regions for the semantic task and bilaterally for the voice task. About 300 ms after the P700, a highly lateralized right temporo-parietal positive wave P1000r occurred with a source in the right temporo-parietal area. These results indicate three distinct physiological processes underlie the detection of auditory targets. Perceptual discrimination is related to interactions between the frontal and temporal regions, stimulus-response association occurs in the temporo-parietal regions and post-perceptual processing in the right temporo-parietal region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, California, U.S.A.

    Antoine J. Shahin

  2. Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Claude Alain & Terence W. Picton

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  1. Antoine J. Shahin
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  2. Claude Alain
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  3. Terence W. Picton
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Correspondence to Antoine J. Shahin.

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Shahin, A.J., Alain, C. & Picton, T.W. Scalp Topography and Intracerebral Sources for ERPs Recorded During Auditory Target Detection. Brain Topogr 19, 89–105 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-006-0015-9

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