Stimulus intensity effects on the steady-state visual evoked potential

This research tests the hypothesis that the amplitude of the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), a neural response to repetitive visual stimuli, is positively correlated with stimulus intensity. SSVEPs are often used as input mechanisms for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), systems that establish a direct communication channel between human brains and computers. User performance with SSVEP-based BCIs is dependent on the amplitude of the SSVEP response, which has been shown to be affected by stimulus parameters. In particular, previous results have shown that the SSVEP amplitude is positively correlated with parameters such as stimulus contrast, size, and viewing distance. These stimulus parameters are related to stimulus intensity, the total amount of light emitted by the stimuli, which suggests that SSVEP amplitude is also positively correlated with stimulus intensity. Such a relationship is often accepted in SSVEP-based BCI literature, but has yet to be experimentally verified. In this study, ten subjects were presented with flickering stimuli at eleven stimulus intensities. The stimuli flickered at a frequency of 7 Hz and were presented at a fixed distance using an LED panel. The SSVEP response was recorded using electroencephalography and analyzed using Fourier and canonical correlation analyses, which are both commonly used in SSVEP-based BCI systems. The results of this study show a significant positive correlation (R=0.173,p=9.122*10^(-7)) between stimulus intensity and the amplitude of the SSVEP response for the measured stimulus intensities.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Yen, Sean Wayne

• steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)
• stimulus intensity
• brain-computer interfaces
• brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)
• electroencephalography (EEG)

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Sean Yen

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78410

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78410