Aging decreases auditory event-related potentials to unexpected stimuli in humans.
A P300 event-related potential (P3a) was recorded to unexpected, deviant auditory stimuli requiring no behavioral response. This brain potential underwent systematic latency prolongation and amplitude decrease with advancing age. The age-related changes paralleled those of the P300 (P3b) recorded in target detection tasks. These results provide physiological evidence of a decremented CNS response to unexpected stimuli with aging.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors