The neural impacts of gun violence exposure on adult attentional mechanisms: an EEG pilot study.

Abstract

Adolescents and young adults experience a disproportionately high risk of gun violence victimization while also undergoing a sensitive neurodevelopmental period for cognitive processes like attention. Consequently, in this exploratory study, we evaluated the impact of gun violence exposure (GVE) on neural indices of attentional systems in late adolescents and young adults. We hypothesized that GVE decreases efficiency of the primary attentional mechanisms in the brain: alerting, orienting, and executive control. We recorded electroencephalography while participants completed the Attention Network Test (ANT) to elicit N1, N2, and P3 event-related potentials (ERPs), indices of alerting, orienting, and executive control. Participants provided self-reports of mental health and violence exposure. Behavioral and ERP differences between participants with and without GVE were evaluated. Results from 13 participants (ages 18-35; M = 25.54; SD = 4.16) demonstrated that participants with GVE experienced less efficiency in the attentional alerting mechanism compared to participants with no GVE. These findings may relate to hypervigilance associated with anxiety disorders that can arise following traumatic firearm exposure. Preliminary evidence for the disruptive effects of GVE on the neural correlates of attention indicates a need for more robust research to understand the effects of firearm-related harms on neural and cognitive functions.