Differences in event-related potentials in relation to the native languages

Background It has been reported that event-related potentials (ERPs) are influenced by familiarity to the task. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of difference in native languages on ERPs evoked by Various verbal oddball task. Methods. Thirty-nine subjects were divided into three groups according to their native languages, group J (Japanese), group C (Chinese), group non;J,C (non-Japanese, Chinese). ERPs were recorded using four types of visual stimuli with oddball paradigm; 1) figure: nonverbal, 2) Hiragana: Japanese character used only in Japan, 3) Kanji: Chinese characters used in China and Japan, 4) alphabetic character. Ninety responses evoked by target stimulation were continuously recorded. After recording of ERPs, the responses were divided into nine blocks (1 block = 10 responses). Results. When figures and alphabetic characters were used in the oddball paradigm, latencies of P300 were similar in three groups. P300 latencies in "kanji" task were significantly longer in group non-J,C than in group J and C (p<0.01). In "hiragana" task, P300 latency tended to be shorter in group J than in group C and non-J,C (p = 0.11). P300 latency in block 1 was longer than that in block 9. Conclusion. P300 latencies were longer when the task was unfamiliar to the subjects. We suggest that P300 is useful for the assessment of familiarity to various languages.