Developmental differences in visual evoked potential responses to high-frequency sensory tetanisation across adolescence and early adulthood.
Ellis R, Duygun R, Levita L • International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology • 2026
Visual cortical responses to high-frequency sensory stimulation show developmental dissociation between early and later stages of visual processing, with younger adolescents showing more sustained modulation of later neural responses, suggesting continued maturation of the mechanisms regulating cortical responsiveness to sensory stimulation across adolescence.
Key Findings
Results
N1b amplitudes showed sustained increases in both occipital and parieto-occipital regions following high-frequency sensory stimulation (HFS) with no significant effects of age across all groups.
The N1b component indexes early stages of visual processing
Low-frequency visual stimulation was delivered at 0.83 Hz at baseline and 2, 4, and 20 minutes following HFS
HFS was delivered at 8.87 Hz for 2 minutes
N1b increases were sustained across all post-HFS assessments in all age groups (early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults)
No significant age group differences were found for N1b amplitude changes
Results
P2a amplitudes demonstrated age- and region-specific modulation following high-frequency sensory stimulation.
The P2a component indexes later stages of visual processing
P2a modulation differed by both age group and brain region (occipital vs. parieto-occipital)
This contrasts with the N1b component which showed no age-related differences
The dissociation suggests differential developmental trajectories for early versus later stages of visual cortical processing
Results
At occipital sites, all age groups showed a comparable transient attenuation of P2a following HFS that returned to baseline levels.
The occipital P2a attenuation was observed across all three age groups: early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults
The attenuation was described as transient, recovering to baseline levels
No significant between-group differences were found for occipital P2a responses
This finding indicates that occipital P2a modulation does not differ as a function of developmental stage
Results
In parieto-occipital regions, P2a attenuation persisted across all post-HFS assessments in early adolescents, whereas late adolescents and adults recovered to baseline by 20 minutes post-HFS.
Post-HFS assessments were conducted at 2, 4, and 20 minutes following HFS
Early adolescents showed sustained parieto-occipital P2a attenuation that did not recover within the 20-minute observation window
Late adolescents and adults showed recovery of parieto-occipital P2a to baseline levels by the 20-minute post-HFS assessment
This region-specific age effect represents the primary developmental dissociation reported in the study
Results
The study identified a developmental dissociation between early and later stages of visual processing in response to high-frequency sensory stimulation across adolescence and early adulthood.
Three developmental groups were examined: early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults
VEPs were recorded from occipital and parieto-occipital regions
The sensory visual tetanisation paradigm used HFS at 8.87 Hz for 2 minutes
Results suggest continued maturation of the mechanisms regulating cortical responsiveness to sensory stimulation across adolescence
The dissociation was specifically between N1b (early processing, no age effect) and P2a (later processing, age- and region-specific effect)
Background
Adolescence is characterized by ongoing maturation of cortical circuits that affects how cortical responsiveness to repeated sensory stimulation changes across development.
The study used a sensory visual tetanisation paradigm to probe cortical plasticity-like mechanisms
Little was previously known about how cortical responsiveness to repeated sensory stimulation changes across the adolescent developmental period
The paradigm allowed examination of both early and later stages of visual processing through two VEP components (N1b and P2a)
Findings extend understanding of neurodevelopmental differences in cortical excitability and plasticity
What This Means
This research suggests that the brain's ability to respond and adapt to repeated visual stimulation changes meaningfully across adolescence into adulthood. The researchers used a technique called visual tetanisation, which involves exposing participants to rapidly flickering lights (about 9 times per second for 2 minutes) and then measuring how the brain's electrical responses to slower visual stimulation change afterward. They tracked these responses in early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults using electroencephalography (EEG), focusing on two brain wave components that reflect early and later stages of visual processing.
The study found that early stages of visual processing (measured by the N1b brainwave) responded similarly across all age groups — all showed a lasting increase in neural response after the rapid stimulation. However, later stages of visual processing (measured by the P2a brainwave) showed important age-related differences, but only in one brain region (parieto-occipital areas). While older adolescents and adults showed a temporary dip in response that recovered within 20 minutes, early adolescents showed a dip that persisted throughout the entire 20-minute observation period. This suggests that younger adolescent brains regulate their responses to sensory stimulation differently than more mature brains.
This research matters because it provides new evidence that the brain mechanisms controlling how strongly we respond to our sensory environment continue to mature throughout adolescence. Understanding these developmental differences in brain plasticity could have implications for conditions that emerge during adolescence and involve altered sensory processing or cortical excitability, and contributes to a broader picture of how the teenage brain differs from the adult brain in fundamental ways.
Ellis R, Duygun R, Levita L. (2026). Developmental differences in visual evoked potential responses to high-frequency sensory tetanisation across adolescence and early adulthood.. International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2026.113464