Event-related potential (P300): the effects of levetiracetam in cognitive performance

The current study is a reanalysis in the time domain of EEG data collection in healthy adults during an oddball paradigm using levetiracetam (LEV) vs. placebo acute administration. Specifically, the event-related potential (ERP) technique provides a tool for exploring the EEG responses to a specific event/stimulus. One of the ERP components widely studied is the P300 component, which is associated with the last stage of information processing and a general measurement of "cognitive efficiency."

The sample was composed of thirteen healthy right-handed individuals randomized to participate under two conditions: LEV and placebo. Electrophysiological measures were collected before and after drug intake. We explored the oddball paradigm, which is commonly used with healthy individuals to investigate the stages of information processing.

The electrophysiological results showed a main effect of condition on P300 amplitude for the frontal (F3, Fz, F4), central (C3, Cz, C4), and parietal electrodes (P3, Pz, P4). The post hoc comparisons (Scheffé's test) demonstrated the significant differences between electrodes. Regarding P300 latency, all regions represented a main effect of condition. A P300 latency reduction was observed during LEV condition compared with placebo.

Our study observed the ERP component-P300-through the variation of its amplitude and latency to evaluate a supposed higher CNS efficiency when participants were under the LEV effect. Our findings sustain this premise, mainly due to reducing in P300 latency for the LEV condition, supporting the neural efficiency hypothesis.