Gender effects on auditory P300: A systematic review

The evidence suggests that gender-related effects could influence the electrophysiological P300 parameters and stand as an additional source of variation for both clinical and non-clinical subjects. The aim of this paper is to characterize gender-related differences in P300 potential as elicited with simple auditory paradigms. This knowledge (1) is important for the practical assessment of P300 potential in normal and clinical populations, and (2) can provide an insight into the understanding of gender differences in pathophysiology, particularly those with differential risk or prevalence in males and females. With this review it is shown that a limited number of studies encounter possible gender effects on parameters of auditory P300, and the findings need to be read with caution due to methodological limitations of the studies. Nevertheless, evidence supports that the P300 amplitude could be significantly modulated by gender, with greater amplitude in females relative to males. Noteworthy, gender has a minimal effect on the P300 latency, and it is often comparable between males and females. Furthermore, the effect of gender on P300 could be modulated by hormonal background, anatomy and some methodological aspects.