Estudos de mecanismos cromáticos e acromáticos para o potencial cortical provocado visual (VECP) e multifocal (mfVEP)

Visual evoked potentials (VECPs) and multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEPs) are being widely used to investigate cortical information processing in response to stimuli at different sites of the visual field and present the potential for complement information to conventional VEPs on chromatic and achromatic mechanisms of human vision. The objective of this work was to investigate the contribution of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms to VECP and mfVEP from two experiments: in the first, 9 healthy trichromates subjects with normal or corrected to 20/20 visual acuity were submitted to a visual stimulation of 8º of size, formed by achromatic sinusoidal gratings in 7 spatial frequencies (from 0.4 to 10 cpd) and in six contrast levels (from 3.12% to 99%); in the second, a multifocal dartboard with 60 sectors covering 40° of visual angle was shown for 14 healthy subjects (12 trichromates, 1 protan and 1 deutan discromatopsic type) in 7 different ratios of red-green luminance (R/R+G) and in one achromatic condition (99%). The two stimuli were presented as a reverse pattern, temporally controlled by m-sequences. The first slice (K2.1) and the second slice (K2.2) of the second order kernel were extracted. In experiment 1, were analyzed the main components of the waveforms recorded and in experiment 2 the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the waveforms was analyzed to classify them as reliable (SNR> 1.35) or unreliable (SNR <1.35) and the number of reliable waveforms in 6 different rings with the same visual eccentricity (R1 being the central ring and R6 the most peripheral ring) was quantified. The results of experiment 1 indicated that responses in K2.1 were dominated by M pathway, and responses in K2.2 reflected the contribution of P pathway. The results of experiment 2 were similar for K2.1 and K2.2. In the R1-R4 rings, all red-green luminance ratios showed a similar number of reliable waveforms. In the R5-R6 rings, there are more reliable waveforms in the red-green luminance ratios with high luminance contrast, while the equiluminant condition has the fewest reliable responses. Protan and deutan subjects showed inverted results: stimulus conditions with green brighter than red generated more reliable waveforms in the protan subject (0.2-0.4), while the opposite combination generated more reliable waveforms in the deutan subject. The two second-order kernel slices are useful for studying the chromatic and achromatic mfVEP mechanisms. The results in R1-R4 indicated a similar contribution of chromatic and achromatic mechanisms for mfVEP, while R5-R6 show the most pronounced contribution of the achromatic mechanism to mfVEP. The method used allowed to identificate specific characteristics of protan and deutan discromatopsic type from obtained data. discromatopsic type from obtained data.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorOs potenciais provocados visuais (VECP) e multifocais (mfVEPs) vem sendo amplamente utilizados para investigar o processamento da informação cortical em resposta a estímulos em diferentes locais do campo visual e apresentam o potencial de fornecer informações complementares aos VEPs convencionais sobre mecanismos cromáticos e acromáticos da visão humana. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a contribuição dos mecanismos cromáticos e acromáticos ao VECP e mfVEP a partir de dois experimentos: no primeiro, 9 sujeitos tricromatas saudáveis, com acuidade visual normal ou corrigida para 20/20, foram avaliados sob uma estimulação visual de 8º de tamanho, formada por redes senoidais acromáticas em 7 frequências espaciais (de 0,4 a 10 cpg) e em seis níveis de contraste (3,12% a 99%); no segundo, foi apresentada para 14 sujeitos saudáveis, com acuidade visual normal ou corrigida para 20/20 (12 tricromatas, 1 discromatópsico do tipo protan e 1 discromatópsico do tipo deutan) uma estimulação multifocal em formato de tabuleiro de dardos com 60 setores cobrindo 40° de ângulo visual em 7 razões diferentes de luminância vermelho-verde (R/R+G) e em uma condição acromática (99%). As duas estimulações foram apresentadas sob a forma de padrão reverso, controlado temporalmente por sequências-m. O primeiro slice (K2.1) e o segundo slice (K2.2) do kernel de segunda ordem foram extraídos. No experimento 1, foram analisados os componentes principais das formas de onda registradas e no experimento 2 foi analisada a relação sinal-ruído (SNR) das formas de onda para classificá-las como confiáveis (SNR> 1,35) ou não confiáveis (SNR