2018 年 37 巻 1 号 p. 99-113
Quantifying the size and timing of an event-related potential (ERP) component is an essential part of ERP studies that focus on human information processing in the brain. The present paper overviews currently available methods for quantifying (1) a size of an ERP component (i.e., measurement of peak amplitude, local peak amplitude, mean amplitude, and signed area amplitude),(2) a midpoint of an ERP component (i.e., measurement of peak latency, local peak latency, and 50% fractional area latency), and (3) an onset point of an ERP component (i.e., measurement of onset latency, 25% fractional area latency, and 50% fractional peak latency). An important point is that each quantification method has both advantages and disadvantages, and the best method varies depending on the nature of data set to be analyzed, such as morphologies of an ERP component of interest, the shape of waveforms in which the ERP component is included, and the level of noises included in the waveforms. Therefore, it is always required for researchers to select the best method with careful consideration of compatibility between quantification methods and data set.
