Measurement of Cortical Evoked Potentials by Decomposition of their Wave Forms

Abstract

Evoked potentials are used for measurement of dynamic events in the nervous system that accompany and are related to defined sequences of behavior. The usual raw data are recordings of potential differences in or around the central nervous system that fluctuate in amplitude over limited time spans during behavior. The purpose of the study is to detect, describe and classify particular states of the brain that underlie normal and abnormal patterns of behavior, especially those involving higher functions such as perception, learning, cognition, and so forth. The basic approach is to measure the recordings of the potential differences in order to express the information in them by sets of numbers. Description, classification, comparison, correlation, etc., by a variety of statistical techniques are all based on the numbers.