What Does the Brain “See”?

• Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs) objectively measure the response of the retina, optic nerve, and visual pathway to a change in visual input.
• The objective response, the VEP, is measured from the occipital lobe with scalp electrodes and can provide information about refractive error, visual acuity, binocularity, and prognosis in amblyopia.
• A reduced amplitude or delayed VEP can be due to a subtle maculopathy or optic neuropathy, including pre-perimetric glaucoma.
• A normal VEP is ideal to support a diagnosis of a “functional” (as opposed to a “structural”) disorder such as malingering and hysteria.
• The cases that follow reveal several of the myriad applications of easy to obtain “in office” VEPs.