The technique, validity and clinical use of the sweep VEP

Abstract

Vision scientists have concentrated on studying two visual functions when it comes to assessing the sensory visual development in human: visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. The methods used to measure these visual functions can be either behavioral or electrophysiological. A relatively new technique for measuring the visual acuity and contrast sensitivity electrophysiologically is the sweep visual evoked potential (sVEP). This paper is a review of the literature on the sVEP technique: stimulus parameters, threshold determination, validity and reliability of sVEP are discussed. Different studies using the sVEP to study the development of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and vernier acuity are presented. Studies have demonstrated that the sVEP is a potentially important tool for assessing visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in non-verbal individuals with disorders affecting their visual system. © 2008 The Authors.