Visual event-related potential changes at two different tasks in nondemented Parkinson's disease

A visual oddball paradigm and an S1-S2 paradigm were employed to evoke event-related potentials (ERPs) in 38 nondemented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 24 healthy elderly subjects. Delayed N200 and reduced P300 amplitude in the whole PD sample were only found in the S1-S2 paradigm. Delayed N200 and reaction time in PD with short duration of illness were found only after the S1-S2 paradigm, which might be an early sign of cognitive changes in PD. This is the first study to apply an S1-S2 paradigm for a visual P300 test in PD and proved the value of this paradigm for detecting minor cognitive abnormalities. ERP changes were correlated with clinical features. Reduced P300 amplitude for the S1-S2 paradigm was significantly correlated with WAIS-R scores and gait disturbance. The correlation between P300 amplitude and clinical scores has rarely been discussed before. P300 latency during the oddball paradigm in PD was influenced by age at test, age at onset, and duration of illness. This may explain why P300 results in nondemented PD have varied among previous authors.