Pattern reversal visual evoked potentials (white-black- and colour-black-PVEPs) in the study of eye dominance

Summary

We investigated the influence of eye dominance scaled by 6 tests on the parameters (N80, P100 latency and N80–P100 amplitude) of the white-black-, green-black-, red-black-and blue-black-pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEPs) of 40 healthy subjects (20 males and 20 females) with normal visual acuity. The P100 latency of the white-black PVEPs was, for both sexes, shorter (P ≤ 0.001) in the PVEPs of the dominant eyes. This P100 latency shortening could also be verified for both right dominant and left dominant eyes with no significant difference between them. A consistent relationship, however, between the different degrees of eye dominance and the P100 latency shortening could not be established. In contrast to the P100 latency findings the N80 latencies of the white-black-PVEPs and the N80-P100 amplitudes did not show any significant differences with respect to eye dominance. Furthermore, the colour-black PVEPs did not present any differences of latency and amplitude depending on eye dominance. Thus our results give further electrophysiological evidence for eye dominance as a lateralized CNS phenomenon that is not influenced by colour.