P300 amplitude and reaction time (RT) are strongly affected
by the sequence of events preceding the eliciting stimulus.
Sommer, Leuthold and Soetens (1999) found that robust sequential
effects in P300 amplitude could be dissociated from more
variable sequential effects in RTs. However, global changes
in P300 amplitude and topography gave rise to the suggestion
that sequential effects are specific for a subcomponent
of P300 that is separate from and anterior to the classical
parietal P300. Here, confirming evidence for dissociable
subcomponents of P300 is reported from two experiments.
Independent component analysis separated a centrally distributed
sequence-sensitive subcomponent from a more parietal subcomponent.
Subsequent dipole source analysis indicated a deep mesial
source for the sequence-sensitive subcomponent. Overlap
with reafferent somatosensory activity appears to be responsible
for an apparent lateralization of this component towards
the hemisphere ipsilateral to the responding hand.