Substantial overlap between genetic influences on P300 amplitude and resting EEG has important implications for the functional interpretation of individual differences in P3 amplitude. First, this finding suggests that substantial proportion of genetic variability in P3 reflects some baseline characteristics of brain neurophysiology rather than differences in cognitive processing. Second, if individual differences in task related cognitive processing are of primary interest, it can be recommended that resting-state EEG characteristics be included as covariates in order to isolate the “true” ERP-specific variance.
