Abstract
442 Negro and 108 Oriental neonates were tested in their electroencephalographic response to light and compared with observations on 1507 Caucasian neonates. The latency measured from the stimulus to the onset of the evoked potential is inversely proportional to conceptional age (r = 0.608). This is evident in both sexes and the three races tested, in single as well as multiple births. The males, however, reacted significantly slower than females of comparable conceptional ages. Negroes tend to have shorter latency periods and Oriental longer latencies than Caucasians in both sex groups. Twins and many prematurely born single neonates may show a delay of response activity by the time they reach the estimated date of confinement, but body weight is not the determining factor. In a group of 126 paired twins the first born did not show a significant difference from the behavior of the second twin. The heavier neonate tended to remain the heavier twin, but the mean photic latency followed the slope of the regression line according to conceptional age for both twins. Male and female twins and triplets show a similar sexual difference in latency measurements as found in single births. (APS)
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Engel, R., Butler, B., Crowell, D. et al. 96 Variation in Evoked Response Activity Among Negro, Caucasian and Oriental Neonates of Both Sexes. Pediatr Res 1, 225 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196705000-00102
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-196705000-00102