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Is the P 3 amplitude reduction seen in externalizing psychopathology attributable to stimulus sequence effects?
Author(s) -
Gilmore Casey S.,
Malone Stephen M.,
Iacono William G.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01299.x
Subject(s) - endophenotype , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , developmental psychology , audiology , psychopathology , oddball paradigm , conduct disorder , electroencephalography , cognition , event related potential , neuroscience , clinical psychology , cognitive psychology , medicine
P 3 amplitude reduction ( P 3‐ AR ) is associated with biological vulnerability to a spectrum of externalizing ( EXT ) disorders, such as conduct disorder, antisocial behavior, and substance use disorders. P 3 amplitude, however, can be affected by the context within which it is measured, for example, by the position of the target in the sequence of stimuli during an oddball task. We hypothesized that EXT ‐related P 3‐ AR may be due to attention or working memory deficits in EXT that would weaken these stimulus sequence effects. Using a community‐based sample of adolescent males, we examined the relationship between P 3 and EXT as a function of the number of standards preceding the target. Higher EXT was associated with significantly smaller P 3 amplitude, regardless of the number of standards preceding the target. These results suggest that P 3‐ AR in EXT does not vary as a function of stimulus sequence, further supporting P 3‐ AR as an endophenotype for EXT disorders.