Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:742-747
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Auditory evoked potentials and selective attention in formerly hyperactive adolescent boys
AJ Zambelli, JS Stamm, S Maitinsky and DL Loiselle
Although many of the prominent symptoms of minimal brain dysfunction (MBD)
subside during pubescence, adolescents who had MBD during childhood may
have persistent neuropsychological dysfunctions. The authors studied the
auditory average cortical evoked potentials and behavioral responses of 9
formerly hyperactive adolescent boys and 9 matched control subjects who
performed a selective attention task. Experimental subjects showed
indications of impairment on both electrophysiological and behavioral
measures of selective attention. Although the findings are consistent with
a neurodevelopmental lag interpretation of MBD, they may also imply a
persistent dysfunction related to the frontal association cortex.
