Evoked Potential Correlates of Posttraumatic Amnesia after Closed Head Injury

Abstract

The P-300 component of evoked potentials to a rare tone was measured in normal volunteers and in patients with closed head injuries who either were confused (in posttraumatic amnesia) or had recovered from posttraumatic amnesia and were oriented at the time of recording. The latency of this component, which reflects cortical processing of stimuli, varied reliably, with the degree of orientation being longest for confused patients and shortest for normal subjects. On the basis of these data, we suggest that the P-300 latency can be used as a physiological index of cognitive function in patients with closed head injury.

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and Cognitive Sequelae in Children with Closed Head-Injury

“…In our study we have considered the N13 and N20 short-Iatency components and the N60, P100 and P300 longlatencies. In particular the P300 component is believed to originate in the hippocampus and associated brain areas which are important neural structures for learning and memory (13) and hence is strongly related to cognitive functioning. Note that the P300 somatosensory evoked potential must not be confused with the P300 potential as encountered in event-related potential studies which is elicited by means of "oddball" tasks.…”

Closed head injury-related information processing deficits: An event-related potential analysis

“…Increases in P300 latency have been reported to be proportional to the severity of injury (e.g., Spikman et al, 2004). Furthermore, prolongation of P300 latency in confused vs. well-oriented survivors (Papanicolaou et al, 1984) suggests that P300 latency may serve as an index of cognitive function in recovering head-injury survivors.…”

Developmental delay in P300 production in children at high risk for developing alcohol-related disorders

“…There is a substantive literature demonstrating a relationship between prolonged latency of P300 and environmental exposures and between specific neuropathological states (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, closed head injury, and other organic brain syndromes) (Morrow et al 1992;Neshige et al 1988;Papanicolaou et al 1984;Polich 1989Polich , 1991. In contrast to the increased latency seen in association with environmental exposures or organic disease states, decrements in P300 amplitude are more often associated with the presence of psychiatric disorders.…”