Visual Neural Dynamics of Adolescents with Myopia During Face Inversion: An ERP and Oscillatory Study

This study aimed to investigate how myopia affects early event-related potential (ERP) components and neural oscillatory activity during a face inversion task in adolescents, in order to clarify the potential mechanisms by which degraded visual input influences facial structural encoding and neural dynamic regulation.

Forty-eight adolescents aged 13-17 years participated, including 24 with myopia and 24 with normal vision. EEG signals were recorded while participants performed a classic upright-inverted face recognition task. A mixed-design ANOVA was applied to compare group differences in the amplitude and latency of the P1 and N1 components. Time-frequency analyses were conducted to assess task-related oscillatory power in the θ (4-7 Hz) and α (8-13 Hz) bands.

No significant group differences were found in P1 amplitude or latency, whereas the N1 latency was significantly longer in the myopia group (p = 0.049). Time-frequency analysis revealed significantly greater θ synchronization (p = 0.034) and greater α desynchronization (p = 0.018) within the early post-stimulus window corresponding to the P1 latency range in the myopia group, with a similar but nonsignificant trend observed within the window corresponding to the N1 range. The main effect of task confirmed a typical face inversion effect (FIE), characterized by smaller N1 amplitudes and longer latencies for inverted than upright faces (p < 0.05).

Myopia in adolescents is associated with delayed neural processing during facial structural encoding and enhanced θ-α oscillatory activity within early post-stimulus periods, which may reflect altered early neural engagement in response to degraded visual input. These findings indicate that the effects of myopia extend beyond optical defocus to involve perceptual-cognitive integration, providing novel evidence for the neurodevelopmental characteristics and regulatory mechanisms of adolescent myopia.