Topographic analysis in brain mapping can be compromised by the average reference.

The average reference introduces ghost potential fields at the latencies for which the integral of scalp-recorded potentials differs from zero. These spurious effects occur because the average reference is computed from a limited number of (scalp) electrodes which do not survey the bottom half of the head. By arbitrarily re-setting the zero at each latency in the maps to be compared, it can also obliterate or even reverse topographical differences in the case of focal brain potentials enhancements thereby defeating the purpose of brain mapping.