Predicting Neural Response Latency of the Human Early Visual Cortex from MRI-Based Tissue Measurements of the Optic Radiation

Although the non-invasive measurement of visually evoked responses has been extensively studied, the structural basis of variabilities in latency in healthy humans is not well understood. We investigated how tissue properties of optic radiation could predict interindividual variability in the latency of the initial visually evoked component (C1), which may originate from the primary visual cortex (V1). We collected C1 peak latency data using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and checkerboard stimuli, and multiple structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 20 healthy subjects. While we varied the contrast and position of the stimuli, the C1 measurement was most reliable when high-contrast stimuli were presented to the lower visual field (LVF). We then attempted to predict interindividual variability in C1 peak latency in this stimulus condition with a multiple regression model using MRI parameters along the optic radiation. We found that this model could predict >20% of variance in C1 latency, when the data were averaged across the hemispheres. The model using the corticospinal tract did not predict variability in C1 latency, suggesting that there is no evidence for generalization to a non-visual tract. In conclusion, our results suggest that the variability in neural latencies in the early visual cortex in healthy subjects can be partly explained by tissue properties along the optic radiation. We discuss the challenges of predicting neural latency using current structural neuroimaging methods and other factors that may explain interindividual variance in neural latency.