title: Normal aging and odor intensity effects on the olfactory event-related potential.
abstract: Olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs) were recorded in 14 young and 14 older adults, with odor strength of isoamyl acetate manipulated to assess olfactory stimulus intensity. Young participants produced significantly larger N1/P2, N2/P3 amplitudes and shorter N1, P2 and N2 latencies than older participants. Medium- and high-odor concentrations elicited significantly shorter P2 and N2 latencies than the lowest concentration for both age groups. Odor concentration appears to affect the speed of olfactory stimulus information processing regardless of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, CA 92120-4913, USA.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Covington
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Geisler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polich
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*