Event-related potentials in traffic policemen

Abstract

Objectives: Occupational exposure to environmental factors has various adverse effects on health. The traffic policemen are exposed to the higher health risk as they are constantly working in the noisy and polluted environment. Since the job of traffic policemen demands concentration and attention, we planned to study event-related potentials (ERPs) in them to assess this aspect of their cognitive ability. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 35 traffic police personnel from the area of East Delhi who were posted at busy traffic intersections for more than 3 years. ERPs were recorded using the oddball paradigm. They had to respond to target stimuli by pressing a button on the response pad with a thumb of their dominant hand. Results: The latencies of N100, P200, N200, and P300 waves were not significantly different between controls and subjects. P300 latency was 266.41 ± 39.21 in controls and 254.20 ± 30.84 in subjects (P = 0.15). P300 amplitude was also not significantly different in both groups. Conclusion: There are no changes in the latencies of different components of ERP’s of traffic policemen, indicating preserved concentration and attention in our study.