Eyeblinks evoke potentials in the occipital brain region

Heuser-Link, Marcus; Dirlich, Gerhard; Berg, Patrick; Vogl, L.; Scherg, Michael

doi:10.1016/0304-3940(92)90226-w

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…On a mean group basis, the current source corresponding to the major component of the ERP (positive peak at about þ300 ms), was fully localized at the precuneus (BA 7 m). This location confirms and extends previous results obtained by EEG [Berg and Davies, 1988;Heuser-Link et al, 1992], MEG [Hari et al, 1994], and fMRI [Bristow et al, 2005], in which blink-related activity, in these cases related to voluntary blinking, was localized in the mesial parieto-occipital region (near the parieto-occipital sulcus). At first, this activity was deemed to be a visual potential evoked by luminance changes linked with closure (on-off) and opening (off-on) of the eyelids during the blink [Berg and Davies, 1988;Heuser-Link et al, 1992].…”

Section: Source Localization Of Delta Bros In Healthy Subjectssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This location confirms and extends previous results obtained by EEG [Berg and Davies, 1988;Heuser-Link et al, 1992], MEG [Hari et al, 1994], and fMRI [Bristow et al, 2005], in which blink-related activity, in these cases related to voluntary blinking, was localized in the mesial parieto-occipital region (near the parieto-occipital sulcus). At first, this activity was deemed to be a visual potential evoked by luminance changes linked with closure (on-off) and opening (off-on) of the eyelids during the blink [Berg and Davies, 1988;Heuser-Link et al, 1992]. Subsequently, based on MEG and fMRI studies, this activity has been linked to the continuity of vision, through short-term storage events of the visual-spatial environmental image [Bristow et al, 2005;Hari et al, 1994].…”

Section: Source Localization Of Delta Bros In Healthy Subjectssupporting

confidence: 91%

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Cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations and their correlation with levels of consciousness

et al. 2012

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Recently, blink-related delta oscillations (delta BROs) have been observed in healthy subjects during spontaneous blinking at rest. Delta BROs have been linked with continuous gathering of information from the surrounding environment, which is classically attributed to the precuneus. Furthermore, fMRI studies have shown that precuneal activity is reduced or missing when consciousness is low or absent. We therefore hypothesized that the source of delta BROs in healthy subjects could be located in the precuneus and that delta BROs could be absent or reduced in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). To test these hypotheses, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity at rest was recorded in 12 healthy controls and nine patients with DOC (four vegetative states, and five minimally conscious states). Three-second-lasting EEG epochs centred on each blink instance were analyzed in both time- (BROs) and frequency domains (event-related spectral perturbation or ERSP and intertrial coherence or ITC). Cortical sources of the maximum blink-related delta power, corresponding to the positive peak of the delta BROs, were estimated by standardized Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography. In control subjects, as expected, the source of delta BROs was located in the precuneus, whereas in DOC patients, delta BROs were not recognizable and no precuneal localization was possible. Furthermore, we observed a direct relationship between spectral indexes and levels of cognitive functioning in all subjects participating in the study. This reinforces the hypothesis that delta BROs reflect neural processes linked with awareness of the self and of the environment.

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Section: Source Localization Of Delta Bros In Healthy Subjectssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Source Localization Of Delta Bros In Healthy Subjectssupporting

confidence: 91%

Cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations and their correlation with levels of consciousness

et al. 2012

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“…For a detailed description see, for example, Scherg [1990Scherg [ , 1992 and Berg and Scherg [1994]. Basically, BESA is a program that allows spatiotemporal modeling of multiple simultaneous sources over defined intervals.…”

Section: Source Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The localization of the dipoles generating the HEP activity was modeled using the BESA software package [Scherg, 1992]. For a detailed description see, for example, Scherg [1990Scherg [ , 1992 and Berg and Scherg [1994].…”

Section: Source Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain structures involved in interoceptive awareness and cardioafferent signal processing: A dipole source localization study

Pollatos¹,

Kirsch²,

Schandry³

2005

Human Brain Mapping

220

198

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Afferent signals from the body play an important role for emotional and motivational aspects of behavior. Nevertheless, little is known about the cortical and subcortical structures involved in interoceptive processes. Recently, a functional MRI study demonstrated that insula, somatomotor, and cingulated cortices are activated when subjects focus attention on their heartbeats. Aside from the use of imaging data, cardiac awareness has frequently been studied by using the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP), a brain wave that appears contingent on the heartbeat. The present study aimed at localizing sources of the HEP. Multichannel EEG was recorded in 44 subjects while they performed a heartbeat perception task. This task was used to quantify interoceptive awareness and to subdivide the subjects into good and poor heartbeat perceivers. Analyses showed highest HEP amplitudes over frontal and frontocentral electrode locations in the time range of later than 200 ms after R-wave onset. By means of a BESA dipole-source-analysis, four sources of the HEP were identified which were located in the anterior cingulate, the right insula, the prefrontal cortex, and the left secondary somatosensory cortex. Good heartbeat perceivers showed both significantly higher HEP amplitudes and higher dipole strength than poor heartbeat perceivers in all four cortical sources. We conclude that the identified structures are involved in the processing of cardiac signals, whereby anterior cingulate and right insula seem to serve as interoceptive centers for cardioception.

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“…On the other hand, spontaneous blinking has been shown to activate primarily the prefrontal oculomotor regions and the occipital cortex (Yoon et al, 2005 ; Berman et al, 2012 ; Hupe et al, 2012 ). Other studies using magnetocephalography (MEG) (Bardouille et al, 2006 ) and electroencephalography (EEG) (Heuser-Link et al, 1992 ) have reported blink-related activity in the frontally located eye regions—primarily attributed to muscle contractions and eye movement—as well as the occipital cortex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous Blinks Activate the Precuneus: Characterizing Blink-Related Oscillations Using Magnetoencephalography

Liu

Hajra

Cheung

et al. 2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Spontaneous blinking occurs 15–20 times per minute. Although blinking has often been associated with its physiological role of corneal lubrication, there is now increasing behavioral evidence suggesting that blinks are also modulated by cognitive processes such as attention and information processing. Recent low-density electroencephalography (EEG) studies have reported so-called blink-related oscillations (BROs) associated with spontaneous blinking at rest. Delta-band (0.5–4 Hz) BROs are thought to originate from the precuneus region involved in environmental monitoring and awareness, with potential clinical utility in evaluation of disorders of consciousness. However, the neural mechanisms of BROs have not been elucidated. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we characterized delta-band BROs in 36 healthy individuals while controlling for background brain activity. Results showed that, compared to pre-blink baseline, delta-band BROs resulted in increased global field power (p < 0.001) and time-frequency spectral power (p < 0.05) at the sensor level, peaking at ~250 ms post-blink maximum. Source localization showed that spontaneous blinks activated the bilateral precuneus (p < 0.05 FWE), and source activity within the precuneus was also consistent with sensor-space results. Crucially, these effects were only observed in the blink condition and were absent in the control condition, demonstrating that results were due to spontaneous blinks rather than as part of the inherent brain activity. The current study represents the first MEG examination of BROs. Our findings suggest that spontaneous blinks activate the precuneus regions consistent with environmental monitoring and awareness, and provide important neuroimaging support for the cognitive role of spontaneous blinks.

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Eyeblinks evoke potentials in the occipital brain region

Cited by 16 publications

References 5 publications

Cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations and their correlation with levels of consciousness

Cortical source of blink-related delta oscillations and their correlation with levels of consciousness

Brain structures involved in interoceptive awareness and cardioafferent signal processing: A dipole source localization study

Spontaneous Blinks Activate the Precuneus: Characterizing Blink-Related Oscillations Using Magnetoencephalography

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