What is it about?
This study examined how visual P3a (primarily associated with the orienting response) and P3b (primarily linked to voluntary attention) components relate to age and neuropsychological performance in children (6,8 yrs) and adults (20.0–88.8 yrs).
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Why is it important?
In the children younger participants showed higher frontal amplitudes than the older ones, and with age both P3a and P3b amplitudes decreased, while P3b latency shortened at the electrode placement (Fz). In the combined sample (children and adults), P3a amplitude declined and latency increased with age; P3b amplitude reduction was nonlinear and latency remained unchanged.
Perspectives
It's noteworthy that younger children showed higher frontal amplitudes. It should also be noted that the findings indicate that P3a matures before P3b, and that the relationship between test scores (matrix reasoning, digit span, word order, hand movement) and P3 measures changes with age.
Professor Lars Smith
University of Oslo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Development of Visual P3a and P3b, Developmental Neuropsychology, July 2007, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/87565640701361096.
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