Information processing in children with minor neurological dysfunction: behavioural and neurophysiological indices

Minor neurological dysfunction (MND) refers to deviant function of the central nervous system in the absence of localizable neurological disorders. Children with no signs (n = 28) and with varying grades of MND (n = 48), classified according to failure on circumscript neurological subsystems, were administered selective and sustained attention tasks at the age of twelve. During the execution of one of the tasks, electrocortical activity of the brain was recorded at the Fz, Cz, Pz and Oz scalp locations. Of main interest were behavioural and electrophysiological indices of deficits in attentional control. With respect to the latter category, the investigation was focused on differences in event-related potential amplitudes reflecting subprocesses of cognitive processing (processing negativity, P300). Following a linear stage model of information processing, it was found that children who failed on three or more neurological subsystems (in particular on fine manipulation and coordination), exhibited deficits in the encoding, search and decision stages of processing. Furthermore, the children with MND showed a reduced positive parietal shift on target presentation. Under complex task conditions, children without MND showed a decrease in P300 amplitude which reflects the impact of processing negativity as a result of increased task demands; this effect was absent in children with MND. These electrocortical differences suggest imbalances in the external and internal neural regulation of the flow of information in the brain.