Altersabhängigkeit später auditorischer potenziale (NC-ERP) bei kindern

Background. Neutral condition event related potentials (NC-ERP) are not suitable for differentiating between children suffering from auditory processing disorders (APD) alone and APD-children with attention deficit disorder. Other factors beside severity of APD may cause " pathological" NC-ERP. Here we raise the question of whether maturational factors may be responsible for disordered NC-ERP. Methods. NC-ERP data from 142 APD children (range 5.4-17.2 years; mean 9.8 years) were analysed. Data were grouped according to age of children (I: <7.11 years n=34; II: 8.0-9.11 years n=46; III: 10.0-11.11 years n=39; IV: >12.0 years n=23). Results. Pathological NC-ERP were found in 82.3% (group I),56.6% (group II),46.2% (group III) and 8.8% (group IV). Additional analyses confirmed no correlation with ADHD. Discussion. Although there is a whole body of evidence that late auditory evoked potential may mature with age, it is not known if NC-ERP are also age dependent. Our results that NC-ERP mature with age are consistent with data for other late auditory evoked potentials. Since normative date of NC-ERP for different age groups are still lacking, NC-ERP results in children should be interpreted very cautiously.