Longer auditory and visual P300 latencies in patients with narcolepsy.

To compare auditory and visual P300 amplitude and latency magnitudes and topographies in patients with narcolepsy and normal subjects, 20 patients with polysomnographically-confirmed narcolepsy and 40 normal subjects were administered auditory and visual P300 testing using 31 evenly spaced scalp electrodes. Patients with narcolepsy were then administered baseline polysomnograms and objective (MSLT, Maintenance of Wakefulness Test or MWT) and subjective tests (Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Clinical Global Impression) of daytime sleepiness. Patients had longer 31-electrode mean age-adjusted auditory P300 latencies (406.0 +/- 27.8 vs. 385.7 +/- 28.9 ms, p = 0.012) and visual P300 latencies (427.3 +/- 29.0 vs. 411.4 +/- 27.7 ms., p = 0.044) than 40 normal subjects in the same age range. Age-adjusted auditory P300 latency was correlated with MWT (r = -0.49, p = 0.028), but not with any other clinical variable or measure of sleepiness. Age-adjusted visual P300 latency was not correlated with any clinical variable or measure of sleepiness. Patients with narcolepsy had longer auditory and visual P300 latencies than normal subjects.