Evaluation of P300 Response Through the Visual Oddball Paradigm in Healthy Children and Adolescents

Background P300 event-related potential (ERP) has been used to assess differences in modes of information processing and cognitive skill from childhood through adulthood. However, research on the development of the visual P300 is relatively sparse, with several discrepant findings. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the conventional parameters of visual ERPs and their relationship with mean response time in children and adolescents. Methods We conducted the study on 60 subjects in the age group of 5-18 years. P300 latency and N2-P3 amplitude were recorded by the visual oddball paradigm, and the age group comparisons were performed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Mean response time was calculated, and the correlation with P300 latency and amplitude was obtained by Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Statistical significance was set as p<0.05. Results We found a decrease in the mean P300 latency and an increase in N2-P3 amplitudes with age, with statistical significance (p<0.001) (one-way ANOVA). Changes were significantly pronounced until the ages of 8-11 years. P300 latency did not vary with significant correlation with the mean response time (r=0.1689, r²=0.029, p=0.19). N2-P3 amplitude showed a statistically significant moderate negative correlation with the mean response time (r=-0.59, r²=0.35, p<0.001) (Pearson correlation analysis). Conclusion In children and adolescents, age has a distinctive pattern of impact on visual P300 amplitude and latency. ERP data should be interpreted with careful consideration in children, and reference values should be used. Association of faster mean response time with larger amplitude found in the study raises the possibility that response speeds correspond to executive control efficiency.