Is there an association between a behavioral measure of working memory and the measures of P300

Abstract Background Recently, the P300 has been extensively explored to assess cognitive function and contextual knowledge in humans. The study's main aim is to determine whether the scores obtained in a behavioral test for Working Memory (WM), the Reading Span Test (RST), are correlated with an electrophysiological test, P300. A total of 60 participants in the age range of 18–40 were included in this study, of which 30 participants were included in group 1 who had normal hearing sensitivity, and the other 30 were included in group 2 who had bilateral hearing loss (HI). Participants had normal cognitive functioning and were screened for having normal cognitive abilities using Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III screening test. After completing basic hearing assessment tests, P300 and RST were administered. Result We found a strong positive correlation of P300 amplitude with RST in the normal hearing and HI groups. A moderate negative correlation was found between P300 latency and RST in the normal hearing group, while a weak correlation was found in the HI group. In both the groups, Reaction Time in RST strongly correlates with amplitude and latency of P300. Conclusion We may use P300 amplitude to estimate the WM capacity, and the latency of P300 may be also essential to evaluate the lexical access capacity of working memory.