Do Task and Sex Differences Influence the Visual Evoked Potential?

Visual evoked potentials were recorded from each hemisphere of both male and female subjects at a parietal and a central site while concurrent spatial or verbal mental tasks were performed. The data were analyzed by means of an automated procedure for peak identification and each component's latency and amplitude was submitted to analysis of variance. No convincing taskhemisphere interactions were found, although several components, particularly the later ones, showed either task or hemisphere related effects. At both sites, females showed greater amplitude of the N2 component for both hemispheres and both cognitive tasks. Sex differences also emerged on components P6 and N6 which were consistent with the idea that females show differential hemisphere involvement in spatial tasks.