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Do inattention traits relate to N2 and P3b ERP responses to novel versus target stimuli? A comparative analysis of youth and young adults

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Erin J. Panda¹ (), Holly A. Lockhart¹, Lauren Stepien¹, Zihang Bu¹, Tyler K. Collins¹, Tinashe Buckenham Dziva¹, Sidney J. Segalowitz¹, Ayda Tekok-Kilic¹, Brock University- Pathstone Mental Health Collaborative Research Program¹; ¹Brock University

Background: Inattention, characteristic of ADHD, is a dimensional trait that affects many to some extent. This study examined how attentional allocation to response-relevant target and response-irrelevant novelty differs as a function of everyday attention difficulties. Methods: Children and youth (ages 8–17; 51% male; 60% community-recruited, 40% clinically referred) completed a fast-paced 4-stimulus visual oddball task while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Based on Conners 3-Parent (short form) T-scores, participants were classified as “high inattention” (T>65; n=22, 59 % male; M age=11.73) or “low inattention” (T<48; n=27, 56 % male; M age=11.15). A preliminary adult comparison sample was recruited and classified using the CAARS-Self Report (n=79; ages 19–30, 37% male). Results: High-inattentive youth demonstrated poorer behavioral performance, yet showed enhanced P3b amplitudes to targets and enhanced frontal N2 responses to novels relative to non-targets compared to low-inattentive peers. Adults showed canonical P3b and N2 effects, but attenuated group differences relative to youth. Conclusion: Findings suggest that higher everyday inattention in youth is linked to greater neural responses to both response-required targets and unexpected novel stimuli. Rather than indicating a deficit in attention, these patterns may reflect different attentional priorities, where salient or novel events capture processing resources more strongly. This interpretation emphasizes attentional differences – not deficits – and highlights the importance of considering diverse cognitive pathways underlying inattention. Developmental differences further suggest that neural mechanisms supporting attentional control may evolve with age, potentially shaping how attentional differences manifest behaviorally.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Development & aging