COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL DEFICITS IN EARLY STAGES OF HIV-INFECTION - AN EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS STUDY

1. In order to inventory different Event-Related Potentials (ERP) modi fications in HIV-infection the authors have evaluated 23 HIV-positive subjects and 12 HIV-negative subjects. ERP were recorded during an aud itory oddball task. 2. Electrophysiological results showed that the la tency of the N100 component of the ERP was significantly increased in HIV-positive subjects compared to the HN-negative subjects. The latenc y of the N200 component of the ERP showed a similar tendency which jus t failed to reach significance when considering HIV-positive subjects vs HIV negative subjects. This result was in agreement with the litera ture which reported increased latencies in HIV infection. 3. Consideri ng all subjects the authors have observed a correlation between the am plitude of the P300 and the emotional deficit. This correlation was st ronger in subjects who presented an emotional deficit and was independ ent of any other psychopathological symptom. 4. The use of ERP appeare d to be a sensitive technique to detect subclinical manifestations in HIV asymptomatic subjects and therefore would help to identify subject s at higher risk for developing cognitive impairments.