ERPs of characters of Chinese words compared with tone and picture stimuli in adolescents and aged persons.
ERPs to target stimulation with tone, picture and characters of Chinese words ([symbol: see text] CCW were target stimulus) were studied in adolescents group and aged persons group. The age of the adolescent group ranged from 15-17 years, with 30 males and 30 females; the age of the elderly persons group ranged from 60-79 years with 29 males and 18 females. The latencies of N2 of aged persons in tone stimulus and in picture stimulus among males were longer than those of adolescents. The latencies of P3 and RT of aged persons were longer than those of adolescents in three stimulus models. The gender differences of latencies of N2 and RT were not obvious in two groups, but were apparent in P3 in adolescents. The latencies of N2, P3 and RT of CCW stimulus were longer compared to those of picture stimulus in the adolescent group, but not in the aged persons group.