Neural conduction time and steady-state evoked potentials.

Abstract

Signal processing in neural networks will inevitably include delays due to the finite conduction velocity of the neurones and their interconnections. Diamond proposed a method for finding these delays in the case of (visual) steady-state responses. Alignment of response features, when represented in a time domain plot, would, allegedly, yield the delay. We show that filter action, by introducing frequency-dependent phase shifts, is bound to distort the time domain plot considerably, thereby aligning the response features in such a way that a wrong value for the delay is found. This makes that analysis method of doubtful significance.