Electrophysiological estimate of human cortical magnification

Objective: The cortical magnification factor characterizes the area of human primary visual cortex activated by a stimulus as a function of angular distance from an observer's line of sight. This study estimates human cortical magnification using an electrophysiological method with excellent temporal resolution: visual evoked potential (VEP) dipole source localization. Methods: For each of 60 independently modulated checkerboard patches within the central 18 deg of the visual field, location, orientation, magnitude, and time-course of the dipole current source that best described the VEP distribution across a multi-electrode array was obtained. At numerous eccentricities, cortical magnification was determined using two different techniques: (1) the distance between each pair of adjacent stimulus patches was matched to the corresponding distance between adjacent cortical sources; and (2) the area of each stimulus patch was matched to the magnitude of the corresponding cortical source (which was assumed to be proportional to cortical area). Results: The estimates of human cortical magnification using our electrophysiological method were similar to previous estimates from psychophysics, cortical stimulation, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusions: The concordance of results provided by these disparate technologies, with differing spatial and temporal limitations, supports their combination in studying the spatio-temporal dynamics of human brain function. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.