Neural correlates of oddball detection in self-motion heading: A high-density event-related potential study of vestibular integration

Abstract

The perception of self-motion is a product of the integration of information from both visual and non-visual cues, to which the vestibular system is a central contributor. It is well documented that vestibular dysfunction leads to impaired movement and balance, dizziness and falls, and yet our knowledge of the neuronal processing of vestibular signals remains relatively sparse. In this study, high-density electroencephalographic recordings were deployed to investigate the neural processes associated with vestibular detection of changes in heading. To this end, a self-motion oddball paradigm was designed. Participants were translated linearly 7.8 cm on a motion platform using a one second motion profile, at a 45° angle leftward or rightward of straight ahead. These headings were presented with a stimulus probability of 80-20 %. Participants responded when they detected the infrequent direction change via button-press. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were calculated in response to the standard (80 %) and target (20 %) movement directions. Statistical parametric mapping showed that ERPs to standard and target movements differed significantly from 490 to 950 ms post-stimulus. Topographic analysis showed that this difference had a typical P3 topography. Individual participant bootstrap analysis revealed that 93.3 % of participants exhibited a clear P3 component. These results indicate that a perceived change in vestibular heading can readily elicit a P3 response, wholly similar to that evoked by oddball stimuli presented in other sensory modalities. This vestibular-evoked P3 response may provide a readily and robustly detectable objective measure for the evaluation of vestibular integrity in various disease models.

Kinesthesia in a sustained-attention driving task

“…Previous studies showed that the motion and vestibular stimuli elicited an evoked potential over the fronto-central areas such as Fz, Cz, and Pz (Elidan et al, 1991;Loose et al, 1999;Nolan et al, 2012;Probst et al, 1997;Rodionov et al, 1996). The cortical regions involve in the processing of motion/vestibular cues include the posterior parietal cortex, insular, frontal cortex,…”

The classic P300 encodes a build‐to‐threshold decision variable

“…The centroparietal P300 (alternatively labelled ‘P3’ or ‘P3b’) is a large‐amplitude positive event‐related potential (ERP) component which peaks at ~ 300–600 ms following the presentation of any task‐relevant stimulus, regardless of its sensory modality (Nieuwenhuis et al ., ; Polich & Criado, ; Nolan et al ., ). This component has drawn relentless interest since its initial discovery in 1965 (Sutton et al ., ) due to its apparent relevance to a wide variety of cognitive operations and its disruption in a number of prominent brain disorders (Polich et al ., ; Santosh et al ., ; Mavrogiorgou et al ., ; Prox et al ., ; Verleger et al ., ).…”

The aging brain shows less flexible reallocation of cognitive resources during dual-task walking: A mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) study

“…Our group (De Sanctis, Butler, Green, Snyder, & Foxe, 2012; De Sanctis et al, 2014; Nolan et al, 2012; Nolan, Whelan, Reilly, Bulthoff, & Butler, 2009) and others (Castermans & Duvinage, 2013; Castermans, Duvinage, Cheron, & Dutoit, 2014; De Vos, Gandras, & Debener, 2014; Debener, Minow, Emkes, Gandras, & de Vos, 2012; Duvinage et al, 2012; Gramann, Ferris, et al, 2014; Gramann, Gwin, Bigdely-Shamlo, Ferris, & Makeig, 2010; Hoellinger et al, 2013; Reis et al, 2014) have shown that it is entirely feasible to record robust event-related potentials (ERPs) from a cognitive task while participants are in motion, without a significant difference in signal-to-noise ratio compared to stationary conditions. The MoBI approach integrates high-density electro-cortical activity with simultaneously acquired body tracking data to investigate brain activity and gait pattern as participants walk on a treadmill while also performing a cognitive task.…”