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Updated: Sep 26, 2026
P50 Sensory Gating in Infants
Published on: December 26, 2013
Early postnatal development of sensory gating
Michael A Kisley1, Sherrie D Polk, Randal G Ross
1Schizophrenia Research Center, Denver Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Colorado, USA. michael.kisley@uchsc.edu
Insights
Infants show early development of sensory gating, the brain's ability to filter stimuli. This study measured auditory evoked potential suppression in infants, finding functional neural circuits for sensory gating at a very young age.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Auditory Neuroscience
Background:
- Sensory gating is the nervous system's mechanism for inhibiting responses to irrelevant stimuli.
- Understanding the development of sensory gating is crucial for identifying potential neurological risks early in life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the early development of acoustic sensory gating in healthy infants.
- To investigate the functionality of neural circuits for sensory gating during early postnatal development.
Main Methods:
- Measured suppression of the auditory evoked potential component P1 (P50) in response to paired auditory clicks.
- Study conducted during REM sleep in healthy infants aged 1-4 months.
- Infants had no genetic risk for disrupted sensory gating (e.g., family history of schizophrenia).
Main Results:
- Infants, as a group, demonstrated significant suppression of auditory evoked potentials.
- A positive correlation was observed between increasing infant age and stronger response suppression.
- Changes in sleep physiology were considered as a potential confounding factor but did not negate the findings.
Conclusions:
- The neural circuits responsible for sensory gating are functional very early in postnatal development.
- Early development of acoustic sensory gating is evident within the first few months of life.
- Findings suggest a foundational capacity for stimulus filtering in the infant brain.
Abstract:
Sensory gating represents the nervous system's ability to inhibit responding to irrelevant environmental stimuli. In order to characterize the early development of acoustic sensory gating, suppression of auditory evoked potential component P1 (i.e. P50) in response to paired clicks was measured during REM sleep in healthy infants (1-4 months) that were without genetic risk for disrupted sensory gating function (i.e. having a relative with schizophrenia). As a group, the subjects exhibited significant response suppression. A correlation between increasing age and stronger response suppression was uncovered, even within this restricted age range. Parallel changes in sleep physiology could not be ruled out as the explanation for this change. Nevertheless, these results demonstrate that the neural circuits underlying sensory gating are functional very early in postnatal development.
