Intracerebral potentials to rare target and distractor auditory and visual stimuli. II. Medial, lateral and posterior temporal lobe.

Event-related potentials were recorded from 1221 sites in the medial, lateral and posterior aspects of the temporal lobe in 39 patients. Depth electrodes were implanted for about 4 days in order to localize seizure origin prior to surgical treatment. Subjects received an auditory discrimination task with target and non-target rare stimuli. In some cases, the target, distracting and frequent tones were completely balanced across blocks for pitch and volume. Some subjects also received an analogous visual discrimination task, or auditory tasks in which the rare target event was the omission of a tone, or the repetition of a tone within a series of alternating tones. In some subjects, the same auditory stimuli were delivered but the patient ignored them while reading. A complex field was recorded, indicating multiple components with overlapping time-courses, task correlates and generators. Two general patterns could be distinguished on the basis of their waveforms, latencies and task correlates. In the temporal pole and some middle temporal, posterior parahippocampal and fusiform gyrus sites, a sharp triphasic negative-positive-negative waveform with peaks at about 220-320-420 msec was usually observed. This wave was of relatively small amplitude and diffuse, and seldom inverted in polarity. It was multimodal but most prominent to auditory stimuli, appeared to remain when the stimuli were ignored, and was not apparent to repeated words and faces. A second broad, often monophasic, waveform peaking at about 380 msec was generated in the hippocampus, a limited region of the superior temporal sulcus, and (by inference) in the anterobasal temporal lobe (possible rhinal cortex). This waveform was of large amplitude, often highly focal, and could invert over short distances. It was equal to visual and auditory stimuli, was greatly diminished when the stimuli were ignored, and was also evoked by repeating words and faces. Preceding this waveform was a non-modality-specific negativity, possibly generated in rhinal cortex, and a visual-specific negativity in inferotemporal cortex. The early triphasic pattern may embody a diffuse non-specific orienting response that is also reflected in the scalp P3a. The late monophasic pattern may embody the cognitive closure that is also reflected in the scalp P3b or late positive component.

Intracerebral potentials to rare target and distractor auditory and visual stimuli. III. Frontal cortex.

Evoked potentials (EPs) were recorded from 991 frontal and peri-rolandic sites (106 electrodes) in 36 patients during an auditory discrimination task with target and non-target (distractor) rare stimuli. Variants of this task explored the effects of attention, dishabituation and stimulus characteristics (including modality). Rare stimuli evoked a widespread triphasic waveform with negative, positive and negative peaks at about 210, 280 and 390 msec, respectively. This waveform was identified with the scalp EP complex termed the N2a/P3a/slow wave and associated with orienting. It was evoked by rare target and distractor auditory and visual stimuli, as well as by rare stimulus repetitions or omissions. Across most frontal trajectories, N2a/P3a/SW amplitudes changed only slowly with distance. However, large (120 microV) P3as with steep voltage gradients were observed laterally, especially near the inferior frontal sulcus, and clear inversions of the P3a were noted in the orbito-frontal and the anterior cingulate cortices. The frontal P3a was earlier to distractor than to target stimuli, but only in some sites and with a latency difference much smaller than that observed at the scalp. Frontal P3a latencies were significantly shorter than those recorded simultaneously at the scalp and often were also shorter than P3a latency in the parietal or temporal lobes. In summary, this study demonstrates an early P3a-like activity that polarity inverts over short distances in the medial frontal lobe, and that it has a significantly shorter latency than similar potentials recorded in the temporal and parietal cortices.

Intracerebral potentials to rare target and distractor auditory and visual stimuli. I. Superior temporal plane and parietal lobe.

Event-related potentials were recorded from 537 sites in the superior temporal plane and parietal lobe of 41 patients. Depth electrodes were implanted to localize seizure origin prior to surgical treatment. Subjects received an auditory discrimination task with target and non-target rare stimuli ("standard oddball paradigm"). In some cases, the target, distracting and frequent tones were completely balanced across blocks for pitch and volume. Variants included an analogous visual discrimination task, or auditory tasks where the rare target event was the omission of a tone, or the repetition of a tone within a series of alternating tones. In some subjects, the same auditory stimuli were delivered but the patient ignored them while reading. Three general response patterns could be distinguished on the basis of their wave forms, latencies and task correlates. First, potentials apparently related to rarity per se, as opposed to differences in sensory characteristics, or in habituation, were observed in the posterior superior temporal plane, beginning with a large positivity superimposed on early components. This positivity peaked at 150 msec after stimulus onset and inverted in sites superior to the Sylvian fissure. Subsequent components could be large, focal and/or inverting in polarity, and usually included a positivity at 230 msec and a negativity at 330 msec. All components in this area were specific to the auditory modality. Second, in the posterior cingulate and supramarginal gyri, a sharp triphasic negative-positive-negative wave form with peaks at about 210-300-400 msec was observed. This wave form was of relatively small amplitude and diffuse, and seldom inverted in polarity. It was multimodal but most prominent to auditory stimuli, appeared to remain when the stimuli were ignored, and was not apparent to repeated words and faces. Third, a broad, often monophasic, wave form peaking at about 380 msec was observed in the superior parietal lobe, similar to that which has been recorded in the hippocampus. This wave form could be of large amplitude, often highly focal, and could invert over short distances. It was equal to visual and auditory stimuli and was also evoked by repeating words and faces. The early endogenous activity in auditory cortex may embody activity that is antecedent to the other patterns in multimodal association cortex. The "triphasic" pattern may embody a diffuse non-specific orienting response that is also reflected in the scalp P3a. The later broad pattern may embody the cognitive closure that is also reflected in the scalp P3b or late positive component.

Spatio-temporal stages in face and word processing. 2. Depth-recorded potentials in the human frontal and Rolandic cortices.

Evoked potentials (EPs) were recorded directly from 650 frontal and peri-Rolandic sites in 26 subjects during face and/or word recognition, as well as during control tasks (simple auditory and visual discrimination). Electrodes were implanted in order to localize epileptogenic foci resistant to medication, and thus direct their surgical removal. While awaiting spontaneous seizure onset, the patients gave informed consent to perform cognitive tasks during intracerebral EEG recording. The earliest potentials appeared to be related to sensory stimulation, were prominent in lateral prefrontal cortex, and occurred at peak latencies of about 150 and 190 ms. A small triphasic complex beginning slightly later (peak latencies about 200-285-350 ms) appeared to correspond to the scalp N2-P3a-slow wave, associated with non-specific orienting. Multiple components peaking from 280 to 900 ms, and apparently specific to words were occasionally recorded in the left inferior frontal g, pars triangularis (Broca's area). Components peaking at about 430 and 600 ms were recorded in all parts of the prefrontal cortex, but were largest (up to 180 microV) and frequently polarity-inverted in the ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex. These components appeared to represent the N4-P3b, which have been associated with contextual integration and cognitive closure. Finally, a late negativity (650-900 ms) was recorded in precentral and premotor cortices, probably corresponding to a peri-movement readiness potential. In summary, EP components related to early sensory processing were most prominent in lateral prefrontal, to orienting in medial limbic, to word-specific processing in Broca's area, to cognitive integration in ventro-lateral prefrontal, and to response organization in premotor cortices.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Spatio-temporal stages in face and word processing. I. Depth-recorded potentials in the human occipital, temporal and parietal lobes [corrected].

Evoked potentials (EPs) were used to help identify the timing, location, and intensity of the information-processing stages applied to faces and words in humans. EP generators were localized using intracranial recordings in 33 patients with depth electrodes implanted in order to direct surgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy. While awaiting spontaneous seizure onset, the patients gave their fully informed consent to perform cognitive tasks. Depth recordings were obtained from 1198 sites in the occipital, temporal and parietal cortices, and in the limbic system (amygdala, hippocampal formation and posterior cingulate gyrus). Twenty-three patients received a declarative memory recognition task in which faces of previously unfamiliar young adults without verbalizable distinguishing features were exposed for 300 ms every 3 s; 25 patients received an analogous task using words. For component identification, some patients also received simple auditory (21 patients) or visual (12 patients) discrimination tasks. Eight successive EP stages preceding the behavioral response (at about 600 ms) could be distinguished by latency, and each of 14 anatomical structures was found to participate in 2-8 of these stages. The earliest response, an N75-P105, focal in the most medial and posterior of the leads implanted in the occipital lobe (lingual g), was probably generated in visual cortical areas 17 and 18. These components were not visible in response to words, presumably because words were presented foveally. A focal evoked alpha rhythm to both words and faces was also noted in the lingual g. This was followed by an N130-P180-N240 focal and polarity-inverting in the basal occipitotemporal cortex (fusiform g, probably areas 19 and 37). In most cases, the P180 was evoked only by faces, and not by words, letters or symbols. Although largest in the fusiform g this sequence of potentials (especially the N240) was also observed in the supramarginal g, posterior superior and middle temporal g, posterior cingulate g, and posterior hippocampal formation. The N130, but not later components of this complex, was observed in the anterior hippocampus and amygdala. Faces only also evoked longer-latency potentials up to 600 ms in the right fusiform g. Words only evoked a series of potentials beginning at 190 ms and extending to 600 ms in the fusiform g and near the angular g (especially left). Both words and faces evoked a N150-P200-PN260 in the lingual g, and posterior inferior and middle temporal g.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The intracranial topography of the P3 event-related potential elicited during auditory oddball.

In order to isolate the anatomical locus of neural activity primarily responsible for generating the scalp-recorded P3 (or P300), the topography of event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited during an auditory oddball task was compared between medial-to-lateral aspects of the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes in 10 epileptic patients undergoing stereoelectroencephalography for seizure localization. Evidence of local ERP generation was obtained from each of these areas. Small amplitude P3-type potentials were sometimes observed to invert polarity across recording contacts in the frontal lobe. Large amplitude positive polarity P3-type components were observed in the lateral neocortex of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), that rapidly attenuated in amplitude at more anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, and medial recording contacts. Large amplitude polarity inverting P3-type components were also observed to be highly localized to hippocampal contacts of temporal lobe electrodes. These data are discussed in the context of other recent studies of lesion effects, scalp topography, and intracranial recordings, and it is concluded that activity generated in the IPL is likely to make the major contribution to the scalp-recorded P3, with smaller contributions from these other sources. Finally, salient topographical differences between the intracranial distribution of the P3 and those of the N2 (or N200) and slow wave (SW) suggest that the generators of these components are not identical.