28/02/2008

Meeting Psychofysiologie.be

P300 From Practise

to Guidelines
Dr. G. Otte
Not the P300 again !!!

HELP
!!!!
 The P300
• Born in 1965
• 2 fathers: Sutton and Donchin
• Off spring >> many 1000 articles and
publications
• Star* of the ERP scene because
discrimination of external stimuli is a
primary condition in many cognitive
activities (attention, memory, action..)
• Evoked by odd-ball paradigma
 What is the meaning of the P300

• Its is only a label for a concept that

encompasses the Late positive Complex
(LPC) +/-300 msec after a meaningfull
stimulus.
 P300 does not exist

• There are two different components

– a fronto central P3a (“novelty P3a-NOGO
P3a) dopaminergic-indexes attentional
network activation (concept of Posner)
– a temporoparietal P3b indexes memory and
context updating and is noradrenergic driven.
 P3b
P3a

Frontal
Dopaminergic parietocentral

Attentional noradrenergic
Memory
encoding
General principle
Guidelines

Use the paradigma that

maximises these 2 components
Oddball paradigma
Three elements
 Odd ball paradigma
• A rare target stimulus is presented with
low probability (15-20%) in a series of
frequent standard stimuli (modality
independent)
• The patient has a primary task to perform
on the target stimulus
– Overt: pressing a button
– Covert: counting silently the number of targets
– Combined
 Odd ball paradigma
• A rare target stimulus is presented with
low probability (15-20%) in a series of
frequent standard stimuli (modality
independent)
• The patient has a primary task to perform
on the target stimulus
– Overt: pressing a button
– Covert: counting silently the number of targets
– Combined
 Odd ball paradigma
• A rare target stimulus is presented with
low probability (15-20%) in a series of
frequent standard stimuli (modality
independent)
• The patient has a primary task to perform
on the target stimulus
– Overt: pressing a button
– Covert: counting silently the number of targets
– Combination of both
 Type 1: easy discrimination
(Classical type)

S:Standard: 1000 Hz
T: Target: 2000 hz
The amplitudo of the P300 on the
target is inversely related to the
probability of its occurence which can
be expressed as a local probability :
intertarget interval (ITI) N: number of
standards between targets

The amplitudo increases on increasing

ITI untill ~= around 8.
It fits a sec. order polynomial especially
in visual modality where this effect is
more pronounced.
Importance of Intertarget Interval ?
A P300 (P3a) can be seen on simple stimuli independent on patient
cooperation if the interval between stimuli is long enough (6-8 sec).
Every stimulus is then a target.
Can be very interesting to test P3a in mentally handicapped or other
patients who cannot (will not) perform the primary task
Other factors influence amplitudo
and latency
Arousal: tonic and phasic

RESOURCE ALLOCATION
 3 way stimulus

Target is difficult to discriminate from standard: attentional resources

are allocated: large P3b

Infrequently and irregularely a strange more salient “distractor” stimulus is

given (patient should not react on it): this “salient or novel” stimulus
generates a large frontocentral P3a.
Novel

Standard

Target
 Primary task

Examples from the clinic

Oddball paradigma: 80 %
standard 20% “target” easy
discrimination (S:1000 Hz / T:
2000 Hz)
No primary task asked to patient
Boils down to MMN

Note a low voltage MMN area

(adjacent to N1)
“Classical P300 odd-ball”: combined task

Primary task:
“Overt”
Overt Press RT button and
“covert”
covert count number of rare
stimuli:

Result: Low voltage P300-non

closure of CN in Cz and Pz
Count: correct
GO condition

Task: P300: tap finger (no

counting) on rare
stimulus: GO condition

Very low voltage P3a- delayed

P3b and non closure CN
NO-GO condition

Task: tap finger on frequent only ( no

tapping on rare: NO-GO).

Activates a large frontal P3a (“No

GO” P3a)
 Let us recapitulate

• Compare 4 different tasks and their

influence on “the P300”
Small preattentive MMN adjacent
to N1
FIRST: NO TASK at all

No task No attention

No P300
Oddball P300:overt (press RT button) Oddball P300:overt + covert (press
RT button and cound targets)

<<Larger P300
(counting adds
attentional
resources to the
task)

Larger P300

Counting
mobilises more
attentional
resources
 NOGO condition Overt + covert overt

No motor involvement motor involvement

 Influence of motor task
• It activates motor related potentials that
cover the same time window as P3
• The medial BP can contaminate the P3
• Some motor potentials are lateralised
(LRP) and in right handed people might
obscure a lateral assymetry that is often
seen in left temporal cortex of
schidzophrenic patients.
 Paradigma
• Single target: in patients unable to apply the
primary task
• 3 way oddball: in all other patient
– Use overt: (motor task) to obtain sequential reaction
times and after that a secund run but
– Using covert ( count only-no motor task) to eliminate
contribution of motor related potentials (P3b will be
higher)
– Use covert difficult task to appreciate attentional
resources (TINNV D. de Batisse-Campanella-M.van
de Velde) (but more clinical studies needed)
3 way paradigma
 Conclusion
• In daily clinical routine a rigid standardised
paradigm (fi 3 way) and task procedure is
IMPERATIVE in order to lower outcome
variance and allow multicentre comparison
of results (and building normal databases).

• Freedom of testing is allowed but only in

research situations.