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. 2015 Mar:94:4-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2014.12.004. Epub 2015 Jan 14.

Stability of P50 auditory sensory gating during sleep from infancy to 4 years of age

Sharon K Hunter  1 , Sabreena J Gillow  2 , Randal G Ross  3
Affiliations

Stability of P50 auditory sensory gating during sleep from infancy to 4 years of age

Sharon K Hunter et al. Brain Cogn. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

The stability of cerebral inhibition was assessed across early childhood using a paired-click auditory sensory gating paradigm. The P50 ERP was measured during REM (or its infant analogue, active sleep) and NREM sleep in 14 children at approximately 3 months of age and again at approximately 4 years of age. Evoked response amplitudes, latencies, and the S2/S1 ratio of the amplitudes of the evoked responses were compared between the two visits. Significant reliability was found for the S2/S1 ratio (r = .73, p = .003) during REM but not non REM sleep (r = -.05, p = .88). A significant stimulus number by sleep stage interaction (F(1,12) = 17.1, p = .001) demonstrated that the response to the second stimulus decreased during REM but not NREM sleep. These findings suggest that this measure is stable during REM sleep across early childhood, is not affected by age, and is sleep-state dependent. P50 sensory gating is a biomarker which, if used properly, may provide a mechanism to further explore changes in the developing brain or may help with early screening for psychiatric illness vulnerability.

Keywords: Auditory sensory gating; Infant; P50; Sleep.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Averaged auditory event related potentials from the same infant at 15 weeks of age (top row) and 47 months of age (bottom row). Stimulus onset occurred at 0. P50 evoked response amplitude is measured between the arrows.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
P50 sensory gating ratios (left) and amplitude of the evoked P50 waves (right) during non-REM and REM sleep (active sleep in the infant). During REM sleep, the amplitude of the P50 response to the second sound is decreased relative to the amplitude of response to the first sound. This is reflected in a sensory gating ratio significantly less than 1. During non-REM sleep, there is no significant difference in the amplitude of response to the second as compared to the first sound, reflected in a ratio not significantly different from 1.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relationship of S2/S1 ratio in Infancy with S2/S1 ratio at 4 years of age (r = .73, p = .003).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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