Evoked potentials and brain maturation in hyperactive and normal children.

Auditory evoked cortical potentials in 39 hyperactive children in the age range of 72--144 months and 39 age sex matched normal control children were studied. The importance of careful control of age when studying evoked cortical potentials in hyperactive children is illustrated. Evidence is presented for two independent evoked potential components (P1--N1 and P2--N2) both of which show abnormal changes with maturation in hyperactive children. It is suggested that changes in these two evoked potential components may reflect abnormal development of two quasi-independent neural substrates in the hyperactive child. The 77% successful classification by means of discriminant function analyses (utilizing two evoked potential components) suggests potential usefulness of this objective laboratory measure as an aid to the diagnostic classification of hyperactive children.