Editing Event-related potential (section)

== Nomenclature ==

ERP waveforms consist of a series of positive and negative voltage deflections, which are related to a set of underlying '''components'''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of Event-Related Potential Components|year=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195374148|pages=664|url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Psychology/CognitivePsychology/?view=usa&ci=9780195374148| veditors = Luck SJ, Kappenman ES }}</ref> Though some ERP components are referred to with acronyms (e.g., [[contingent negative variation]]&nbsp;– CNV, [[error-related negativity]]&nbsp;– ERN), most components are referred to by a letter (N/P) indicating polarity (negative/positive), followed by a number indicating either the latency in milliseconds or the component's [[Ordinal number|ordinal]] position in the waveform. For instance, a negative-going peak that is the first substantial peak in the waveform and often occurs about 100 milliseconds after a stimulus is presented is often called the [[N100 (neuroscience)|N100]] (indicating its latency is 100 ms after the stimulus and that it is negative) or N1 (indicating that it is the first peak and is negative); it is often followed by a positive peak, usually called the [[P200]] or P2. The stated latencies for ERP components are often quite variable, particularly so for the later components that are related to the cognitive processing of the stimulus. For example, the [[P300 (neuroscience)|P300]] component may exhibit a peak anywhere between 250 ms&nbsp;– 700 ms.