EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS AS INDEXES OF SUBCLINICAL NEUROLOGICAL DIFFERENCES IN HIV PATIENTS DURING RAPID DECISION-MAKING

The authors examined decision making in HIV patients under slow and ra pid information deliveries. Thirteen asymptomatic, HIV-infected (HIV+) subjects with known seroconversion dates and 13 healthy control subje cts were instructed to detect the ''oddball'' target tones among nonta rget tones during single-channel (slow) and dual-channel (rapid) deliv eries. Event-related potentials (ERPs) from midline scalp sites, react ion time, and ''hits'' were recorded. Behaviorally, the two groups per formed similarly, and during single-channel delivery they produced Sim ilar ERPs indexing target detection. However, during dual-channel deli very the HIV+ group showed atypical morphology in the region of the P3 00 cognitive decision-making component compared with the control group . Auditory ERPs elicited by rapid, dichotic stimulus presentations app eared sensitive to subclinical effects of HIV-related neuropathology i n individuals who had been HIV-positive for 3 months to 8 years.