P300 in response to the subject's own face.

The P300 event-related potentials in response to self-relevant stimuli has been reported to be different from those to non-target stimuli under a passive attention condition. In the present study the P300 in response to the subject's own face was examined. Twelve right-handed volunteers served as subjects. In two separate conditions, deviant (subject's own face and red square; 30%), non-target (two unfamiliar faces; 30% each), and target (famous face; 10%) stimuli were randomly presented on a computer screen. P300 amplitudes in response to the red square were larger than those to the unfamiliar faces, but were significantly lower than those to the subject's own face. The subject's own face in normal population may have an intense relevance to the subjects which has an additional effect over the simple orienting response.