Sensory interaction, brain activity, and reading ability in young adults.
Forty-one Navy recruits were divided into two groups (HIGH versus LOW) based on reading ability. Eight channels of visual (VERP), auditory (AERP), and bimodal (BERP) event related brain potential data were analyzed in order to assess the relationship between sensory interaction and reading ability. The HIGH group showed greater VERP amplitude than did the LOW group, while the lOW group showed greater AERP and BERP amplitude than did the HIGH group. Discriminant analysis provided separation of the two groups when VERP and AERP variables were used but not BERP variables. Sensory modality interaction was assessed through the derived expression. Greatest group differences were found late in the waveform (between 300 and 400 msec) suggesting that sensory interaction also affects higher-order cognitive functioning. Distractability may partially account for the ERP differences found for the two reading groups.
D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D014785:Vision, Ocular