AUDITORY AND COLORED VISUAL P300 IN PATIENTS WITH SEQUELAE OF SUBACUTE MYELO-OPTICO-NEUROPATHY

To study the cognitive function in 13 patients with sequelae of subacu te myelo-optico-neuropathy (SMON), event-related potentials (ERPs) wer e elicited with tones, clicks, and colored visual stimuli in different tasks. P300 latency was delayed, and P300 amplitude reduced or absent in 5 patients (38%), although neuropsychological assessment for demen tia did not differ between patients and 21 age-matched normal controls . P300 and N200 latencies with the tone/tone auditory stimuli and N200 latency with the visual stimuli were significantly delayed, but the l atencies of early components (N100 and P200) were not delayed. These f indings suggest that SMON patients may have cognitive dysfunction to a slight degree.