Event-Related Potentials Index Subclinical Neurological Differences in HIV Patients During Rapid Decision-Making

Thirteen asymptomatic HIV-infected and 13 healthy control subjects underwent a battery of behavioral and electrophysiological assessments. The behavioral measures tested IQ, computational skills, visual-spatial memory, and psychomotor ability with normative data for comparison. The electrophysiological measures included event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to auditory, 'oddball' targets in either a single or dual channel delivery. The behavioral results indicated that the HIV group performed similarly to the Control group. The ERP results indicated that the HIV group produced similar ERPs indexing target detection in the single oddball delivery. The ERPs recorded from the HIV group in response to the dual oddball task showed atypical morphology and topography relative to those recorded from the Control group. These results suggested that auditory ERPs elicited by rapid, dichotic stimulus presentations were more sensitive to subclinical effects of HIV-related neuropathology than conventional behavioral measures. Electrophysiology, Attention, Event-related potentials, Decision-Making, Human immunodeficiency virus, IQ