Rhythmic Variations in Reaction Times and Evoked Potentials

Abstract

The present work aimed to assess the existence of a regular ultradian cyclicity underlying the variations in amplitude of the N1-P2 component of acoustic EP during a relatively long recording session and investigate its relationship with behavioral measure as RT to the same stimulus. 128 tones were presented to each subject; 128 RTs and the associated EPs to target stimuli were recorded. N1-P2 amplitude has been measured at a single trial level through Wmly adaptive filter modified by Wastell. Results showed that there are ultradian rhythmic variations of N1-P2 anti RT, with a periodicity from about 5 to 40 min and these variations have similar patterns in the two measures in most of the subjects

Key Words:

• RT
• acoustic EP
• ultradian rhythms
• vigilance
• biological rhythms