P300 wave: a comparative study of impulsive aggressive criminals

Abstract

Event-Related potentials are a simple non-invasive neurophysiological method enabling to comprehend certain aspects of the cognitive processing of information in humans. The best-known component of Event-Related Potentials is the so-called P3 wave. Alterations in the parameters of P300 wave have been discovered in certain personality disorders and in persons with impulsively aggressive behaviour. The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes of these parameters, especially an amplitude and latency in the place of Pz electrode. We examined 15 persons with the impulsive aggressive behaviour and compared them to a population comparable of normal age, gender and approximate degree of education. We used P300 auditory and a neuropsychological Eysenck IVE battery. The results showed that significantly lower amplitudes had been found in the aggressive impulsive subjects as compared to the control group. No statistically significant differences have been discovered in the latency. These results seem to confirm previous studies.