Abstract
We investigated whether P300-ERP and cognitive test performance differ for age, sex, and education in two groups of healthy elderly, and verified whether any correlations exist between P300 amplitude and latency and gray matter volume using whole brain voxel-by-voxel-based mapping, controlling for age, education, sex and Total Intracranial Volume (TIV). We used 32 channel electroencephalograms (EEG) to record the P300 responses and 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to determine gray matter volume. We recruited 36 native-Dutch speaking healthy older subjects, equally divided in two sub-groups of 52–64 and 65–76 years old, administered a battery of cognitive tests and recorded their demographics, EEGs and task performance; additionally, 16 adults from the second sub-group underwent an MRI scan. We found significant differences between age groups in their cognitive tests performance, P300 amplitudes for the frontal and parietal electrodes for the most difficult task, and P300 latencies for frontal, central and parietal electrodes for all three tasks difficulty levels. Interesting, sex and education affected cognitive and P300 results. Higher education was related to higher accuracy, and P300 amplitudes and shorter latencies. Moreover, females exhibited higher P300 amplitudes and shorter latencies, and better cognitive tasks performance compared to males. Additionally, for the 16 adults underwent to MRI scan, we found positive correlations between P300 characteristics in frontal, central and parietal areas and gray matter volume, controlling for demographic variables and TIV, but also showing that age, sex, and education correlate with gray matter volume. These findings provide support that age, sex, and education affect an individual’s cognitive, neurophysiological and structural characteristics, and therefore motivate the need to further investigate these in relation to P300 responses and gray matter volume in healthy elderly.
Highlights
The increased life expectancy has led to an increase in dementia cases among older adults as age is one of the risk factors
Correlations Between Gray Matter Volume (VBM) and P300 Amplitude and Latency The N-Back P300 amplitudes and latencies of the 16 participants included in the old adults group that underwent an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan were correlated with their gray matter volumes using linear regression analysis, controlling for age, education, sex and Total Intracranial Volume (TIV)
Our results show significant correlations between P300 amplitude in the frontal scalp area and gray matter volume peak- and cluster levels in the left post-central gyrus (MNI coordinates of the most significant peak: −49.4 −10.3 23; cluster level k = 49; peak level T = 43.33), in the central area and gray matter volume peak- and cluster levels in the left lingual
Summary
The increased life expectancy has led to an increase in dementia cases among older adults as age is one of the risk factors. The study of Angel et al (2010) showed that ERPs components can be affected by educational level They found that the effect of age on ERPs responses was smaller for participants that were higher educated compared to those with a lower level of education, during the performance of a word-stem cued-recall task. These findings recall the concept of cognitive reserve and the protective role it plays during aging (Christensen et al, 2008). Park and Reuter-Lorenz (2009) hypothesized that older adults with a higher cognitive reserve can compensate for neurocognitive deficits by recruiting alternative brain networks and in this way enable them to perform a task with similar accuracy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
