Habituation of visually evoked potentials in children with brain damage sustained during early childhood.

In 21 boys with normal brains and 34 boys who had sustained brain lesions during early childhood the time course of habituation of the vertex response was studied. All boys showed normal intelligence and were aged between 9 and 11. Boys were tested under different experimental conditions using periodic and aperiodic flash-stimuli at constant intensities (1.2 J). The peak-to-peak amplitudes of the prominent N1-P1 and P1-N2 component were measured. A gradual decrease of the amplitude was observed as a function of the stimulus program and the duration of the experiment. A significant, more rapid habituation was observed in boys with early brain damage. These results suggest that the capacity of tonic activation is disturbed in children with brain-organically impaired performance.