DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONGENITALLY BLIND AND NORMALLY SIGHTED SUBJECTS IN THE P1 COMPONENT OF MIDDLE LATENCY AUDITORY-EVOKED POTENTIALS

Auditory evoked potentials (0 to 100 msec. range) were recorded two ti mes for 9 congenitally blind children (age=14.1 yr. +/- 1.4 yr.) and 9 age-matched children with normal vision. The groups' peak latency and amplitude of the Pi wave were compared. The peak latency was signific antly lower for the congenitally blind than for the normally sighted o n a two-factor analysis of variance. Since the P1 wave is thought to c orrespond to either the ascending reticular activating system or the p rimary auditory cortex, these results suggest that information process ing at these neural levels may occur more efficiently in the blind.