Abstract
Complex higher-order cognitive functions and their possible changes with aging are mandatory objectives of cognitive neuroscience. Event-related potentials (ERPs) allow investigators to probe the earliest stages of information processing. N100, Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a are auditory ERP components that reflect automatic sensory discrimination. The aim of the present study was to determine if N100, MMN and P3a parameters are stable in healthy aged subjects, compared to those of normal young adults. Normal young adults and older participants were assessed using standardized cognitive functional instruments and their ERPs were obtained with an auditory stimulation at two different interstimulus intervals, during a passive paradigm. All individuals were within the normal range on cognitive tests. No significant differences were found for any ERP parameters obtained from the two age groups. This study shows that aging is characterized by a stability of the auditory discrimination and novelty processing. This is important for the arrangement of normative for the detection of subtle preclinical changes due to abnormal brain aging.
Highlights
The progressive and rapid aging of population is a relevant demographic feature in the Western countries and age-related diseases are becoming an increasingly important clinical issue
Besides the obvious difference in age, in agreement with our recruitment criteria, the two groups clearly differed for education with the old subjects having attended school for only 5.7 years on average (10 years less than young subjects). This reflects the social-economic changes occurred in the recent history of the geographic area where the study was conducted. As this difference could have influenced the results of all measurements carried out in this study, we performed the subsequent statistical comparison between the two groups by means of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with education used as a covariate, in order to correct for its effects on the results
Numerous neurodegenerative diseases lead to dementia; in many cases the diagnosis is difficult at a pre-clinical or sub-clinical stage, this is the optimal time to introduce a rehabilitative therapy accompanied by medical interventions, in some circumstances [24]
Summary
The progressive and rapid aging of population is a relevant demographic feature in the Western countries and age-related diseases are becoming an increasingly important clinical issue. In the neurosciences, the effects of aging on cognitive changes are nowadays mandatory research targets; normative data for clusters of the population and potential diagnostic biomarkers of preclinical and mild cognitive decline in pre-senile subjects are needed in order to establish early pharmacological and behavioral treatments
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