EFFECTS OF MATURATION AND AGING ON WAVE FORM OF VISUALLY EVOKED POTENTIALS

Visually evoked responses (VERs) of 215 normal subjects, aged 1 month-81 years, were studied with the following results. Amplitudes of several waves in the first 250 msec of the VER changed markedly with age. In responses recorded from the occiput there was a rapid increase in amplitude reaching a maximum in 5-6-year-old children. The mean amplitude of VERs at this age was about twice as large as in some older age groups. With children of 7 years and older there was a decline in amplitude until ages 13-14, when an abrupt increase in amplitude appeared. Amplitude appeared to stabilize at about age 16. With older subjects, mean age 67 years, earlier components, those appearing in the first 100 msec, were consistently larger and arrived significantly later. With infants, mean age 3 years, later components, those after 100 msec, had significantly longer peak delays. A comparison of responses from different brain areas as well as the degree of homogeneity of VERs at different age levels showed a gradually changing relationship with increasing age. © 1969.