Introduction

Prior work suggests that event related potential (ERP) studies in infancy may help predict developmental outcome.

Methods

As part of a longitudinal study of early child development, we used the auditory oddball stimulus paradigm with a portable EEG system to obtain ERP data from 2-month-old infants (32 term, 6 preterm) in Sri Lanka. The mismatch negativity was calculated between 200 msec and 350 msec after stimulus presentation.

Results

We found a significant correlation between birthweight and mismatch negativity (p=0.046), and our time-frequency analysis indicated power differences between standard and oddball tones at approximately 5 hertz and 18 hertz. There was no significant difference between mismatch negativity in children undergoing ERP studies in a hospital setting (30) vs in the child’s home (8).

Conclusions

Although our modest sample size precludes drawing definitive conclusions, these preliminary results show that it is possible to acquire ERP datasets using currently available portable technology in a hospital or home setting, even in a developing nation such as Sri Lanka. Follow up of this cohort will include developmental assessments which will add to the growing literature relating early electrophysiology to developmental outcome.