Normative event-related potentials from sensory and cognitive tasks reveal occipital and frontal activities prior and following visual events

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 196; pp. 173 - 187
• Main Authors: Di Russo, F., M, Berchicci, V, Bianco, RL, Perri, S, Pitzalis, F, Quinzi, D, Spinelli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2019; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Cognitive ability; Cortex (insular); Decision making; Discrimination, Psychological - physiology; EEG; Electroencephalography; Event-related potentials; Evoked Potentials; Female; Frontal gyrus; Frontal Lobe - physiology; Humans; Male; Occipital Lobe - physiology; Prefrontal cortex; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Sensorimotor integration; Somatosensory cortex; Studies; Topography; Visual cortex; Visual perception; Visual Perception - physiology; Visual stimuli; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.033

In the present study, we report the results from a large sample of participants (N = 136), selected based on their EEG quality, to obtain event-related potential (ERP) normative data. All participants were tested in Simple Response Task (SRT) and Discriminative Response Task (DRT). A subset of 36 participants was tested also in Passive Vision task. Both pre- and post-stimulus ERPs were analyzed and compared among different tasks. Spatiotemporal patterns of all the observed components were analyzed using source analysis. Beside the well-known ERP components, we also described recently identified prefrontal components: the pre-stimulus prefrontal negativity (pN) associated to proactive cognitive (mainly inhibitory) control within the inferior frontal gyrus (iFg); the post-stimulus prefrontal N1, P1 and P2 (pN1, pP1 and pP2) involved in perceptual and visual-motor awareness (pN1 and pP1), and in stimulus-response mapping and decision-making (pP2) localized within the insular cortex. The large sample of high-quality EEG datasets allowed to identify four additional components: the pre-stimulus visual negativity (vN) originating in extrastriate visual areas and interpreted as a visual readiness activity; the post-stimulus prefrontal N2 and N3 (pN2 and pN3) components interpreted as feedback reactivation of the anterior insular cortex; and the post-stimulus prefrontal P3 (pP3), interpreted as persisting inhibitory activity of the iFg for inhibited trials. •Normative ERP data were obtained from 136 participants in simple and complex tasks.•The pre- (pN) and post-stimulus (pN1, Pp1, Pp2) components were especially described.•A passive vision task allowed to detect a pre-stimulus occipital vN component.•We showed new ways to study cognition in prefrontal and insular cortex using ERP.