Maturation of human visual evoked potentials: 27 weeks conceptional age to 2 years

Visual evoked potentials to pattern reversal and diffuse flash stimulation were recorded from 520 consecutive pediatric patients and 11 normal infants between the ages of 27 weeks post-conception and 24 months. The latency and peak-to-peak amplitude of the first reproducible positive peak of the binocular pattern visual evoked potential (P100) were measured for five check sizes subtending from 15' to 4 degrees of arc. Three developmental trends were noted: 1) a rapid increase in pattern resolution near term, 2) a subsequent decrease in the latency of P100, and 3) a gradual increase in the amplitude of P100. These three trends reflect the multiplicity of early maturation and are discussed in terms of changes in receptor growth and density, pathway myelination, and cortical synaptivity.