Event-related Potential Components Research Articles

Right is it right? Influence of the type of motor response on behavioral and electrophysiological indicators during the orthographic decision task

The role of the sensorimotor component in the processing of verbal information is currently widely discussed. We hypothesize that the type of motor response may influence behavioral and electrophysiological performance in an orthographic decision task. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 42 right-handers during an orthographic decision task. Half of the participants were instructed to press the right button with their right hand upon encountering correctly spelled words and the left button with their left hand upon encountering misspelled words, while the other half followed the opposite instruction. The motor response to correctly spelled words was shorter for the dominant hand compared to the non-dominant hand, which may be due to the coincidence of semantic and motor representations (stimulus-response compatibility effect). In addition, reaction times to incorrectly spelled words were longer than to correctly spelled words only in the group of participants who responded with their dominant hand to correctly spelled words. The P200 and N400 ERP components did not depend on the type of motor response. However, in the group of participants who pressed correctly spelled words with their right hand, the amplitude of the P600 component was greater for misspelled words compared to correctly spelled words. Thus, the type of motor response influenced the effects associated with word spelling recognition.

Event-related potentials in studies of the implicit component of cognitive biases

The review analyzes neurophysiological correlates of the implicit component of cognitive bias in the processes of perception and decision-making. The review identifies the leading methodological pipeline for analysis of the implicit component of cognitive bias, and justifies its choice in terms of the objectives of this review. The method of recording event-related potentials (ERPs) was chosen as the main approach to determining neurophysiological indicators of implicit processes. The analysis of literature allowed us to identify ERP components reproduced in the works of different authors using different variants of experimental designs for studying implicit bias, which may indicate the presence of common neurophysiological mechanisms associated with implicit processes in cognitive bias. The possibility of using other approaches to the analysis of EEG data to obtain new information about the mechanisms of implicit components in cognitive bias is also discussed.

Do smaller P300 amplitudes in schizophrenia result from larger variability in temporal processing?

The P3b is a prominent event-related potential (ERP) with maximal amplitude between 250 ms and 500 ms after the onset of a rare target stimulus within a sequence of standard non-target stimuli (oddball paradigm). Several studies found reduced P3b amplitudes in patients with schizophrenia compared to neurotypicals. Our work and the literature suggest that temporal imprecision may play a large pathophysiological role in schizophrenia. Here, we investigated whether reduced P3b amplitudes result from reduced neural activity (power) or temporal imprecision (inter-trial phase coherence; ITC) in delta and theta bands, using two EEG datasets from different studies with different oddball paradigms (Study 1: 19 patients with schizophrenia and 17 matched controls, Study 2: 26 patients and 26 controls). Both studies revealed typical P3b ERP components with smaller amplitudes in patients. Reduced ITC in patients was found in the delta band, which correlated with P3b peak amplitudes for all participant groups (ρ = 0.58–0.89). In Study 1, we also found significant differences between patients and controls in ITC in the theta band, which also correlated with P3b peak amplitudes (patients’ ρ = 0.64, controls’ ρ = 0.54). This was not found in Study 2. The results indicate that P3b amplitude reduction in patients with schizophrenia is linked to a reduction in temporal precision of neural activity. These results expand the notion of imprecision in temporal processing at phenomenological, psychological, and neurological levels that have been related to disturbances of the sense of self. They confirm that temporal imprecision may be more important than the reduction of neural activity itself.

From oxygen shortage to neurocognitive challenges: behavioral patterns and imaging insights

Environmental hypoxia, resulting from reduced oxygen supply, poses a significant risk of dysfunctioning and damaging the neurocognitive system, particularly in relation to anxiety and stress. Inadequate oxygenation can lead to acute and chronic brain damage. Scholars used behavioral, hemodynamic, and electromagnetic neurofunctional techniques to investigate the effects of normobaric and hypobaric hypoxia on neurocognitive systems. They found a correlation between hypoxia, altered psychomotor responses, and changes in EEG alpha, theta, beta, and gamma rhythms, which affect spatial attention and memory. Hypoxia affects event related potential (ERP) components differently depending on latency. Perceptual responses N1 and P2 remain largely unaffected, while the amplitudes of preattentive MMN, vMMN, and P3a are significantly altered. Late latency components related to attention, particularly P3b, are also altered. These changes illustrate the spectrum from sensory detection to more complex cognitive processing, highlighting the brain's efficiency in managing information. Interestingly, the amplitudes of P3b, ADAN and CNV can increase with increased cognitive demands in hypoxia. This suggests a compensatory response. Prolonged exposure exacerbates these effects, resulting in compensatory delayed behavioral responses and alterations in behavioral monitoring and conflict inhibitory control, as reflected by reduced amplitudes in some attention related ERP components, including N2, N2pc, and ERN. Thus, neurocognitive function and integrity are under stress. ERP sources and hemodynamic images reveal that vulnerable brain regions include the frontal prefrontal cortices, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and parietal and visual cortices, which are essential for attention related processes like decision making and spatial memory. The auditory system appears less affected.

Neurophysiological characteristics of reward processing in individuals at different levels of gaming.

Altered reward processing has been repeatedly reported in Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, it remains unclear whether these changes are linked to the severity of addictive symptoms or the extent of gaming experience. This study examined the neurophysiological responses regarding reward anticipation and consummation in individuals at different levels of gaming (including 22 casual gamers, 31 regular gamers, and 27 individuals with IGD) through a monetary incentive delay task. Three event-related potential components during reward anticipation-cue-related P300 (Cue-P3), contingent negative variation, and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN)-and two during reward consummation-feedback-related negativity and feedback-related P300 (FB-P3)-were measured. We found that IGD individuals exhibited greater Cue-P3 but lower SPN amplitude compared to casual gamers, while regular gamers fell between the two without significant differences. Regressions indicated that more extensive gaming experience, rather than the severity of the symptoms, primarily contributed to the increased Cue-P3 in IGD. No group differences were found during reward consummation. Our results highlight disrupted reward anticipation processing in IGD, characterized by increased attention bias toward reward cues (Cue-P3) but diminished cognitive resources for reward anticipation (SPN) and emphasize the role of gaming experience in increased attention bias in IGD.

Auditory N1 event-related potential amplitude is predictive of serum concentration of BPN14770 in fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a CGG repeat expansion ≥ 200 repeats in 5’ untranslated region of the FMR1 gene, leading to intellectual disability and cognitive difficulties, including in the domain of communication. A recent phase 2a clinical trial testing BPN14770, a phosphodiesterase 4D inhibitor, showed improved cognition in 30 adult males with FXS on drug relative to placebo. The initial study found significant improvements in clinical measures assessing cognition, language, and daily functioning in addition to marginal improvements in electroencephalography (EEG) results for the amplitude of the N1 event-related potential (ERP) component. These EEG results suggest BPN14770 improved neural hyperexcitability in FXS. The current study investigated the relationship between BPN14770 pharmacokinetics and the amplitude of the N1 ERP component from the initial data. Consistent with the original group-level finding post-period 1 of the study, participants who received BPN14770 in period 1 showed a significant correlation between N1 amplitude and serum concentration of BPN14770 measured at the end of period 1. These findings strengthen the validity of the original result, indicating that BPN14770 improves cognitive performance by modulating neural hyperexcitability. This study represents the first report of a significant correlation between a reliably abnormal EEG marker and serum concentration of a novel pharmaceutical in FXS.

Neurophysiological measures of covert semantic processing in neurotypical adolescents actively ignoring spoken sentence inputs: A high-density event-related potential (ERP) study

Language comprehension requires semantic processing of individual words and their context within a sentence. Well-characterized event-related potential (ERP) components (the N400 and late positivity component (LPC/P600)) provide neuromarkers of semantic processing, and are robustly evoked when semantic errors are introduced into sentences. These measures are useful for evaluating semantic processing in clinical populations, but it is not known whether they can be evoked in more severe neurodevelopmental disorders where explicit attention to the sentence inputs cannot be objectively assessed (i.e., when sentences are passively listened to). We evaluated whether N400 and LPC/P600 could be detected in adolescents who were explicitly ignoring sentence inputs. Specifically, it was asked whether explicit attention to spoken inputs was required for semantic processing, or if a degree of automatic processing occurs when the focus of attention is directed elsewhere? High-density ERPs were acquired from twenty-two adolescents (12–17 years), under two experimental conditions: 1. individuals actively determined whether the final word in a sentence was congruent or incongruent with sentence context, or 2. passively listened to background sentences while watching a video. When sentences were ignored, N400 and LPC/P600 were robustly evoked to semantic errors, albeit with reduced amplitudes and protracted/delayed latencies. Statistically distinct topographic distributions during passive versus active paradigms pointed to distinct generator configurations for semantic processing as a function of attention. Covert semantic processing continues in neurotypical adolescents when explicit attention is withdrawn from sentence inputs. As such, this approach could be used to objectively investigate semantic processing in populations with communication deficits.

Aberrant error monitoring in traumatic brain injuries: A meta-analysis of event-related potential studies

ObjectiveAlthough individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) often manifest altered error monitoring, evidence using event-related potentials (ERPs) to index these cortical processes is inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis study aimed to comprehensively compare the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) between individuals with TBI and healthy controls (HC) from the existing literature. MethodsLiterature search was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. The effect sizes (Hedges' g) in the comparisons of ERN and Pe amplitudes between TBI and HC groups were employed by a random-effect, inverse-variance weighted model. The effects of age, TBI severity and experimental tasks on both ERP components were also examined. ResultsRandom-effect models showed decreased ERN (g = 0.361, p = 0.010), but intact Pe (g = 0.105, p = 0.443), in those with TBI compared to HC. A further analysis revealed that the adult patients (g = 0.326, p = 0.038), but not the youth patients, showed significant reduction of ERN as compared to the HC. However, we did not find moderating effects of TBI severity and experimental paradigms on either ERN or Pe. ConclusionsERN and Pe reflect separate neurophysiological mechanisms and different aspects of error monitoring in TBI. Our findings suggest that attenuated ERN amplitude may be an electrophysiological parameter of error monitoring deficits in TBI.

The early visual processing of faces in a basic classification task: An ERP study of spatial frequency, other-race and other species effect

ABSTRACT This study investigates the neural processing of other-race and other-species faces, using spatial frequencies (SFs) to probe into early visual processing mechanisms. We conducted a basic classification task to reveal fundamental aspects of facial processing without the complexity of higher-order recognition tasks. This approach utilized SFs set at low (LSF, 0.53 cycles per degree [cpd]), broadband (BB), and high (HSF, 2.1 cpd) SFs to examine their impact on the both P100 and N170 components of event-related potentials. Our findings revealed a significant latency difference in the N170 component under HSF conditions, indicating race-specific efficiency in processing fine details between Asian and Caucasian faces. Furthermore, N170 amplitudes were consistently larger for human than monkey faces, with this difference more pronounced in LSF and BB conditions. This finding indicates that the other-species effect in early visual processing is more pronounced in holistic processing (LSF and BB conditions) rather than in fine-detail processing.

Hypnotherapy modulating early and late event-related potentials components of face processing in social anxiety.

Hypnotherapy has a potential role in modulating attention bias to treat social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study aimed to verify whether hypnotherapy can reduce social anxiety by changing attentional bias. The primary objective of our study is to explore the influence of hypnosis on various aspects of attention processes, specifically focusing on how it affects attention bias and social anxiety. This study included 69 participants with SAD who were assigned to three groups based on their scores on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). The experimental group (n = 23) received a hypnosis treatment once a week, for a total of six sessions, while the control group (n = 23) and the baseline group (n = 23) did not receive any treatment. To evaluate whether hypnosis could alleviate SAD and attention bias towards threatening stimuli, we employed questionnaires and an odd-one-out task accompanied by electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Under the attention sensitivity conditions, the experimental group exhibited a reduced N170 and LPP at the posttest stage, and a similar N170 and LPP reduction under the attention disengagement conditions. Notably, the symptom improvements were positively correlated with the reduction in N170 and LPP amplitude across conditions. Hypnosis treatment modulates the early face processing and late emotional evaluation of threat-related stimuli in SAD patients. These findings suggest that N170 and LPP are important biomarkers for the treatment of SAD.

Pathological personality dimensions and neurobiological emotional reactivity.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) offers a promising framework to identify the neurobiological mechanisms of psychopathology. Many forms of psychopathology are characterized by dysfunctional emotional reactivity. The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related potential component that provides an index of neurobiological emotional reactivity. Several categorical disorders have demonstrated a similar association with the emotion-modulated LPP. It is possible that higher-order dimensional representations of psychopathology might explain the comparable results. The present study examined the association between HiTOP-consistent pathological personality dimensions across multiple levels of the hierarchy and neurobiological emotional reactivity. The sample included 215 18-35-year-old adults (86% female) who were oversampled for psychopathology. Participants completed the emotional interrupt task while electroencephalography was recorded to examine the LPP. Participants also completed the Comprehensive Assessment of Traits relevant to Personality Disorders to assess pathological personality. At the spectra level, higher negative emotionality was associated with a larger emotion-modulated LPP, while higher detachment was associated with a smaller emotion-modulated LPP. There were no associations between higher-order psychopathology levels and the emotion-modulated LPP. Compared to categorical diagnoses, spectra-level personality pathology dimensions significantly improved the prediction of the emotion-modulated LPP. The present study indicates that HiTOP spectra levels of negative emotionality and detachment demonstrate unique associations with neurobiological emotional reactivity. The study highlights the utility of examining dimensional and hierarchical, rather than categorical, representations of psychopathology in the attempt to identify the neurobiological origins of psychopathology.

Assessing motivational biases in brain and behavior: Event-related potential and response time concomitants of the approach-avoidance task.

The approach-avoidance task (AAT) is designed to measure implicit motivated action biases instantiated by emotional stimuli and alterations in such biases that drive psychiatric disorder. While some research has measured AAT event-related potential (ERP) correlates to establish bias sensitivity even at a neural level, a lack of work with unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral stimuli together and a common focus on psychiatric disorder-matched (rather than generally emotional) content limits conclusions that can be drawn. Thus, current work extends the AAT literature by testing ERP modulations across normatively unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral conditions; and supporting the task's use as an individual difference assessment, it also provides data on AAT reliability and initially explores anxiety-related effects when stimuli are not disorder-matched. In 38 participants including 19 anxiety treatment-seeking individuals, 32 sensor electroencephalography revealed robust N100, N200, and late positive potential (LPP) ERP components and bias-consistent modulations for unpleasant images (reduced N200s on unpleasant push relative to pull trials; enhanced LPP for unpleasant compared to neutral trials). Meanwhile, modulations were less consistent with emotion-driven bias for other conditions-that is, LPPs were enhanced but N200 was not modulated for pleasant images, and for neutral images, N200 was unexpectedly enhanced on push compared to pull trials. Following these analyses, reliability tests revealed excellent raw ERP reliabilities but lower reliabilities for modulation scores, and comparing treatment- to non-treatment-seeking groups showed no preliminary indication of ERP modulation changes when stimuli are not personally relevant. How these findings together inform understanding of AAT as a measure of bias is discussed.

What guides the judgment of learning: Memory or heuristics? An event-related potential study

Memory monitoring ability is essential for the effectiveness of learning processes. Judgment of Learning (JOL), a metacognitive judgment, is commonly used to measure this ability. An ongoing debate questions whether JOL is an outcome of an inferential or recollective experience, as suggested by different hypotheses regarding the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this judgment. To address this question through a neuroscientific perspective, we aimed to investigate the temporal dynamic of JOL adopting event-related potential (ERP) methodology. Seventy-two young adults participated in an episodic memory task involving word-pairs as stimuli. Their JOLs were obtained through categorical choices in a delayed condition. Additionally, their memory performance was tested in the recognition phase. ERP components were compared for different JOL levels, as well as for the hit responses in the recognition test according to their JOL levels. The analyses showed that JOL processes are observable within an early time window after stimulus presentation, as evidenced by elicitation of the P100, N100, P200, N200, and P300 components across all JOL levels. However, only the amplitude of the N100 varied among these levels. A negative ERP component with 330–500 ms latency was also evident for all JOL levels in the central and parietal electrodes, which did not differ in amplitude. The analyses of the recognition phase ERPs showed that the hit responses did not exhibit a significant difference in the familiarity-related mid-frontal old/new effect (FN400) amplitude; however, those with high level of JOL elicited recollection-related parietal old-new effect with a smaller amplitude. These findings support both hypotheses suggesting that JOL is influenced by heuristics and the retrievability of information.

Visual placebo and nocebo effects.

Placebo and nocebo effects modulate symptom perception through expectations and learning processes in various domains. Predominantly, their impact has been investigated on pain and physical performance. However, the influence of placebos and nocebos on visual system functionality has yet to be explored. The present study aimed to test whether placebo and nocebo effects can intervene in altering participants' performance outcomes during a novel visual accuracy task and to examine the underlying neural mechanisms through EEG. After performing a baseline session, visual accuracy was said to be enhanced or disrupted by a sham transcranial electrical stimulation over the occipital lobe. Behavioural results showed a significant increase in visual accuracy for the placebo group, from the baseline session to the test session, whereas the nocebo group showed a decrease in visual accuracy. EEG analyses on the event-related potential P300 component, conducted on both a centro-parietal electrode patch and a parieto-occipital, one displayed an increase in the amplitude of P300 for the placebo group, and a decrease in the nocebo group. These findings suggest for the first time that placebo and nocebo effects can influence visual perception and attentional processes linked to it. Overall, the present study contributes to understanding how expectations affect sensory perception beyond pain and the motor system, paving the way for investigating these phenomena in other sensory modalities such as auditory or olfactory perception. KEY POINTS: Placebo and nocebo effects have been studied predominantly in pain and motor performance fields. In a novel visual task, the impact of placebo and nocebo effects on the visual system has been evaluated, in both early components (stimuli-related) and late components (attention-related). The placebo group showed an increase in visual accuracy and EEG-evoked potential amplitudes, whereas the nocebo group showed a decrease in both. This study shows how expectations and the related placebo and nocebo effects can shape basic stimuli sensory perception in the visual domain.

Face and face pareidolia in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy indicates different neural processing: an event-related potential study

BackgroundVisual perception of face images or face pareidolia can be evaluated with event-related potentials (ERP) for healthy subjects and patients with neurological conditions. In this study, we aimed to analyse event-related potential components such as P100, N100, N170, and vertex-positive potential (VPP) in response to face pareidolia perception in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients.MethodsERPs were recorded during the pareidolia test. Waveforms were analzyed and current source density (CSD) maps were generated.ResultsCSD profiles were shown to be interpretable when face and face pareidolia conditions. N100, P100, and N170 components showed larger amplitudes and longer latency in epilepsy patients in response to face pareidolia stimuli compared to real face images. However, the N170 component latency did not differ significantly between epilepsy patients and healthy participants, while the larger amplitude and longer latency of N100 and P100 responses were evoked in healthy patients.ConclusionsOur results indicate a difference in the neural mechanisms of processing real face information and pareidolia face-like information in TLE patients.

Investigating the effect of template head models on Event-Related Potential source localization: a simulation and real-data study.

Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are valuable for studying brain activity with millisecond-level temporal resolution. While the temporal resolution of this technique is excellent, the spatial resolution is limited. Source localization aims to identify the brain regions generating the EEG data, thus increasing the spatial resolution, but its accuracy depends heavily on the head model used. This study compares the performance of subject-specific and template-based head models in both simulated and real-world ERP localization tasks. Simulated data mimicking realistic ERPs was created to evaluate the impact of head model choice systematically, after which subject-specific and template-based head models were used for the reconstruction of the data. The different modeling approaches were also applied to a face recognition dataset. The results indicate that the template models capture the simulated activity less accurately, producing more spurious sources and identifying less true sources correctly. Furthermore, the results show that while creating more accurate and detailed head models is beneficial for the localization accuracy when using subject-specific head models, this is less the case for template head models. The main N170 source of the face recognition dataset was correctly localized to the fusiform gyrus, a known face processing area, using the subject-specific models. Apart from the fusiform gyrus, the template models also reconstructed several other sources, illustrating the localization inaccuracies. While template models allow researchers to investigate the neural generators of ERP components when no subject-specific MRIs are available, it could lead to misinterpretations. Therefore, it is important to consider a priori knowledge and hypotheses when interpreting results obtained with template head models, acknowledging potential localization errors.

Study on averaging method of event related potentials under noise

Open offices that make effective use of limited space and encourage dialogue, interaction, and collaboration among employees, are becoming an increasingly. However, productive work-related conversation might actually decrease the performance of other employees within earshot more so than other random, meaningless noises. The presence of noise during the performance of cognitive tasks involving such as memory, commonly causes a subjective experience of annoyance, which can lead to a decline in performance. This tendency is stronger in response to meaningful noise, such as music and conversation, than for meaningless noise, such as the sound of traffic, and heating ventilating and air-conditioning noise. It is well known that the Event-Related Potential (ERP) in the brain wave elicited by internal or external stimuli are related to the operation of selective attention. The present experiment was designed to determine the effects of the noise on ERPs in the auditory odd-ball paradigms. In order to examined differences in the ERP components due to the noise, performance of algorithm for estimating waveform of ERPs such as averaging method is evaluated.

Temporal and spatial analysis of event-related potentials in response to color saliency differences among various color vision types.

Human color vision exhibits significant diversity that cannot be fully explained by categorical classifications. Understanding how individuals with different color vision phenotypes perceive, recognize, and react to the same physical stimuli provides valuable insights into sensory characteristics. This study aimed to identify behavioral and neural differences between different color visions, primarily classified as typical trichromats and anomalous trichromats, in response to two chromatic stimuli, blue-green and red, during an attention-demanding oddball task. We analyzed the P3 component of event-related potentials (ERPs), associated with attention, and conducted a broad spatiotemporal exploration of neural differences. Behavioral responses were also analyzed to complement neural data. Participants included typical trichromats (n = 13) and anomalous trichromats (n = 5), and the chromatic stimuli were presented in an oddball paradigm. Typical trichromats exhibited faster potentiation from the occipital to parietal regions in response to the more salient red stimulus, particularly in the area overlapping with the P3 component. In contrast, anomalous trichromats revealed faster potentiation to the expected more salient blue-green stimulus in the occipital to parietal regions, with no other significant neural differences between stimuli. Comparisons between the color vision types showed no significant overall neural differences. The large variability in red-green sensitivity among anomalous trichromats, along with neural variability not fully explained by this sensitivity, likely contributed to the absence of clear neural distinctions based on color saliency. While reaction times were influenced by red-green sensitivity, neural signals showed ambiguity regarding saliency differences. These findings suggest that factors beyond red-green sensitivity influenced neural activity related to color perception and cognition in minority color vision phenotypes. Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to more comprehensively explore these neural dynamics and their broader implications.

The ERP Components of Reward Processing Modulated by Status-Related Social Comparison.

Although social status is closely related to income distribution, few studies have focused on social comparisons caused by income distribution based on social status. The neural indices of status-related social comparisons were investigated by modifying the classical social comparison task with the incorporation of event-related potentials (ERPs). The study employed a total of 29 subjects (15 females), the status scores of whom were initially obtained through the utilization of classical measurements of objective (7 items) and subjective (2 items) socioeconomic status. Subsequently, the subjects were required to complete a dot-estimation task. To induce status-related and response-related (upward, equal, and downward) social comparisons, subjects were informed that rewards were distributed based on whether their status score or their response was superior to that of a selected competitor. The behavioral results demonstrated that status-related social comparisons were perceived as more unfair than response-related social comparisons. The ERP results indicated that the cue-P3 amplitude was lower under status-related cues than response-related cues. Additionally, the amplitude of feedback-related negativity was larger under status-related equal comparisons than response-related equal comparisons. Furthermore, the P3 amplitude was larger under status-related upward comparisons relative to response-related upward comparisons. The findings indicated that status-related comparisons may contribute to the development of unfair consideration (enhanced FRN) and a reduction in task motivations (lowered cue-P3). Additionally, the status-related upward comparison may serve as a significant factor in the onset of relative deprivation (enhanced P3). It would therefore be beneficial to gain further insight into the neural basis of social comparisons.

The P300 and hierarchical dimensions of psychopathology.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) framework offers the potential to better understand how neurobiological mechanisms relate to psychopathology. The P300 is an event-related potential component that indexes attention, stimulus evaluation, and categorization. A blunted P300 has been associated with psychiatric disorders across externalizing, internalizing, and thought disorder domains. However, there has been little research investigating whether the P300 is related to higher-order dimensions of psychopathology. In a sample of 225 adults aged 18-35 years (Mage = 23.09, SD = 3.83, 82.2% female) who were oversampled for psychopathology, the present study examined the associations between the P300 and both psychopathology spectra and a general factor. Participants completed multiple experimental tasks, while electroencephalography was recorded to measure the P300 elicited by auditory, tactile, and visual stimuli. Participants also completed the self-report Comprehensive Assessment of Traits Relevant to Personality Disorder to assess pathological personality dimensions. We used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between a latent P300 factor and both psychopathology spectra (negative emotionality, detachment, psychoticism, disinhibition, and antagonism) and a general factor. The results indicated that the P300 was inversely related to the general factor. Further analyses revealed no relationships between the P300 and any individual spectrum when accounting for the general factor. Overall, the present study indicates that the P300 is associated with the general factor of psychopathology, which might explain its association with multiple categorical disorders. The study also demonstrates the potential importance of neuroscience-informed dimensional systems to understand clinical phenomena. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).