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Biomedical subjects

C Tomberg

Publications and source records attributed to C Tomberg.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Topographic analysis in brain mapping can be compromised by the average reference.

The average reference introduces ghost potential fields at the latencies for which the integral of scalp-recorded potentials differs from zero. These spurious effects occur because the average reference is computed from a limited number of (scalp) electrodes which do not survey the bottom half of the head. By arbitrarily re-setting the zero at each latency in the maps to be compared, it can also obliterate or even reverse topographical differences in the case of focal brain potentials enhancements thereby defeating the purpose of brain mapping.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The point correlation dimension: performance with nonstationary surrogate data and noise.

The dynamics of many biological systems have recently been attributed to low-dimensional chaos instead of high-dimensional noise, as previously though. Because biological data are invariably nonstationary, especially when recorded over a long interval, the conventional measures of low-dimensional chaos (e.g., the correlation dimension algorithms) cannot be applied. A new algorithm, the point correction dimension (PD2i) was developed to deal with this fundamental problem. In this article we describe the details of the algorithm and show that the local mean PD2i will accurately track dimension in nonstationary surrogate data.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mapping early somatosensory evoked potentials in selective attention: critical evaluation of control conditions used for titrating by difference the cognitive P30, P40, P100 and N140.

Detailed procedures are described for the study of somatosensory event-related potentials (ERPs) to electric stimulation of fingers. Control responses to homogeneous (100%) series of identical stimuli (thus eliminating input mismatch) while the subject reads a novel (thus providing a distinct attention-capturing activity and maintaining vigilance level) are validated as reflecting the exogenous obligatory profiles required for assessing cognitive component in ERPs to target relevant stimuli. With these 'neutral' conditions, the control responses have a similar profile even at larger ISIs such as those separating the infrequent targets in Attention runs. Conversely, series of stimuli identical to those in control runs can elicit cognitive components in a 'Lie' experiment when the subject is induced to treat the stimuli like targets even though there is no discrimination involved. On this basis, the somatosensory P30, P40, P100 and N140 components appearing in the target profiles are considered genuine cognitive components. They have been analyzed with scatter displays, electronic subtraction, bit-mapped displays and with calculation of Z and dilation factors. The cognitive P30 and P40 reflect selective attention-related enhancements of the neural generators in receiving somatosensory cortex. The early parietal positivity P27 can thus be modulated separately from the frontal N30 component and is thought to be generated by a radial dipole in area 1. The later cognitive P100 and N140 reflect the invocation of distinct processors in conjunction with the behavioral use of the sensory input. The evolving topographical patterns of the P100 and N140 electrogeneses, revealed by bit-mapped data, suggest complex interactions between posterior parietal and prefrontal cortex whereby the sensory information is placed into spatial coordinate systems and matched with representations of relevant objects or relationships in space for target processing in the sequential tasks.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mapping somatosensory evoked potentials to finger stimulation at intervals of 450 to 4000 msec and the issue of habituation when assessing early cognitive components.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to mild electric stimulation of two fingers of the left hand were studied at regular interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 450, 800, 1400, 2500 and 4000 msec. Habituation was evaluated while the subject was reading a novel so as to virtually ignore the finger stimuli while maintaining steady vigilance levels. Brain SEPs recorded from 25 scalp electrodes were assessed by scatter displays, electronic subtraction, bit-mapped potential fields, and by calculating the Z estimator and dilation factor. Similar results were obtained with randomly varying ISIs. The P14 farfield and cortical N20 did not change with ISIs. The parietal P27-P45 decreased at ISIs of 800 and 450 msec, but showed no significant habituation at ISIs of 1400, 2500 or 4000 msec. This validated the control conditions used for assessing the early cognitive P30 and P40 to attended target stimuli. The frontal N30 also decremented the shorter ISIs but still habituated up to ISIs of 2500 msec. The clear dissociation between frontal N30 and parietal P27 at the larger ISIs suggests that they involve at least in part distinct neural generators.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Emulation of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) components with the 3-shell head model and the problem of 'ghost potential fields' when using an average reference in brain mapping.

In brain topographic mapping, the putative location and orientation in the head space of neural generators are currently inferred from the features of negative and positive scalp potential fields. This procedure requires the use of a fairly neutral reference. The frequently advocated average reference creates problems because its effect is not merely to change a (steady) zero reference level, but to dynamically zero-center all scalp potentials at each latency. Ghost potential fields are thus created at the latencies for which the integral of scalp recorded potentials differs from zero. These distortions of brain mapping have been analyzed with a true 3-shell head model in conjunction with the emulation of SEP components. In the head model, surface potential fields generated by dipoles or dipole sheets of various depths and orientations were computed either over the north hemisphere, so as to emulate scalp recorded SEP components, or over the entire equivalent head sphere. The spurious effects of the average reference are shown to occur because it is computed from a limited number of (scalp) electrodes which fail to survey the bottom half of the head.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Inadequacy of the average reference for the topographic mapping of focal enhancements of brain potentials.

The main reason for doing topographic mapping of EEG or evoked potentials is to assess regional changes in brain potentials. The use of an average reference is shown to have perverse effects in this relation, namely because it imposes on the recorded data a zero-centering effect which can reduce, eliminate or even reverse the focal changes of bit-mapped brain potentials. Concurrent studies on a true 3-shell head model suggest that such distortions of human EEG data occur because the average reference is computed from a set of (scalp) recording electrodes which do not survey the bottom half of the head volume so that the integral of scalp-recorded potentials frequently differs from zero. The results also raise the question whether the actual incidence of radial or near-radial (versus tangential) generators has been underestimated in the published data using average reference mapping.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nasopharyngeal recordings of somatosensory evoked potentials document the medullary origin of the N18 far-field.

Because the nasopharyngeal electrode provides non-invasive access to the ventral brain-stem at the medullo-pontine level we used it for recording somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to median nerve stimulation (non-cephalic reference). After the P9 and P11 far-fields, the nasopharyngeal SEPs disclosed a negative-going component which was interpreted as the near-field equivalent of the P14 scalp far-field generated in the caudal part of the medial lemniscus. Nasopharyngeal SEPs also revealed a large N18 with voltage and features strikingly similar to those of the scalp-recorded N18 far-field. These results suggest that N18 is generated in the medulla and not more rostrally in the brain-stem. The use of a nasopharyngeal electrode as reference for topographic brain mapping is discussed. The paper documents the feasibility and relevance of nasopharyngeal recordings for non-invasive analysis of short-latency SEPs.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Right or left ear reference changes the voltage of frontal and parietal somatosensory evoked potentials.

Short-latency cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) to left median nerve stimulation were recorded with either the left or right earlobe as reference. With a right earlobe reference the voltage of the parietal N20 and P27 was reduced while the voltage of the frontal P20 and N30 was enhanced. The effects were consistent, but their size varied with the SEP component considered and also among the subjects. Analysis of SEPs at different scalp sites and at either earlobe suggested that the ear contralateral to the side stimulated picked up transient potential differences, depending a.o. on side asymmetry and geometry of the neural generators as disclosed in topographic mapping. For example, the right ear potential can be shifted negatively by the right N20 field evoked by left median nerve stimulation. The changes involve the absolute potential values, but not the time features or the gradients of potential fields. Scalp current density (SCD) maps are not affected. The results are pertinent for current discussions about which reference to use and document the practical recommendation of recording short-latency cortical SEPs with a reference at the ear ipsilateral (not contralateral) to the side of stimulation.

Adult↗