title: Habituation of P3a and P3b brain potentials in men engaged in extreme sports.
abstract: Do person characteristics determine when novel, attention-grabbing stimuli loose their novelty? The aim of the present study was to investigate habituation of the visual event-related potentials (ERP) P3a and P3b in men that (1) were engaged in extreme sports, (2) had extremely high scores on the Impulsivity Sensation Seeking scale of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ), yet were not engaged in extreme sports, or (3) had extremely low scores on ZKPQ. The results showed that P3a habituated significantly more in extreme sporters than in the other groups. The same was not found in comparison of the high and the low ZKPQ scorers. There were not differences between the groups in overall amplitude. It is concluded that ERP habituation may be more relevant than mere amplitude to the sensation seeking trait in extreme sporters, and that they differ from others in ERPs related to automatic alerting-related processes, not controlled cognitive processing.
authors.affiliation: University of Oslo, Institute of Psychology, Norway. a.m.fjell@psykologi.uio.no
authors.forename: Anders M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fjell
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aker
authors.forename: Karl Henrik
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bardal
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frogner
authors.forename: Oddny S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Gangås
authors.forename: Anneli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Otnes
authors.forename: Nils M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Sønderland
authors.forename: Anne Kathrine
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Wisløff
authors.forename: Kristine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Walhovd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011337:Probability Learning; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*