Effects of information load on auditory event-related potentials (P300) in HIV-infected children

The P300 component of the auditory event-related potential waveform was investigated in control children and two groups of HIV-infected children (asymptomatic and symptomatic), aged five to seven, under combinations of two interstimulus interval (ISI) rates (1 and 2 sec) and two target probability rates (.2 and.5). No group differences were found under the different combinations of ISI and target probability, for either P3a amplitude and latency, or P3b amplitude and latency. Although the present study was not able to distinguish between-groups by manipulating the target presentation rate, there were several within-group effects on P3a latency that were dependant upon the specific clinical or control group. The general findings for the study were that as the target presentation rates increased, P3a latencies increased.