Electrophysiological signs of split-second decision-making.
When young adults detected auditory stimuli at split-second intervals, different components of the event-related brain potentials showed markedly different speeds of recovery. The P3 component (latency 300 to 350 milliseconds) was fully recovered at intervals of less than 1.0 second, while the N1--P2 components (latencies 100 to 180 milliseconds) were markedly attenuated with stimulus repetition even at longer interstimulus intervals. Thus, the N1--P2 recovers much more slowly than a subject's ability to evaluate signals, whereas the P3 appears to be generated at the same high rates as the decision processes with which it is associated.
D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors