Timing of early activity in the visual cortex as revealed by simultaneous MEG and ERG recordings

To clarify the latency of the earliest cortical activity in visual processing, electroretinograms (ERGs) and visual evoked magnetic fields (VEFs) following flash stimulation were recorded simultaneously in six human subjects. Flash stimuli were applied to the right eye and ERGs were recorded from a skin electrode placed on the lower lid. ERGs showed two major deflections in all subjects: an eyelid-negativity around 20 ms and a positivity around 60 ms corresponding to an a- and b-waves, respectively. The mean onset and peak latency of the earliest component of VEFs (37M) was 30.2 and 36.9 ms, respectively. There was a linear correlation between the peak latency of the a-wave and the onset latency of the 37M (r = 0.90, P = 0.011). When a single equivalent current dipole analysis was applied to the 37M, four out of six subjects showed highly reliable results. The generator of the 37M was estimated to be located in the striate cortex in all four subjects. Since postreceptoral activities in the retina are expected to start around the peak of the a-wave (20 ms), the early cortical activity, which appears 10 ms later than the a-wave peak, is considered to be the earliest cortical activity following flash stimulation.