Cortical cognitive potentials in elderly persons.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the acoustically evoked cortical cognitive potentials N 200, P 300, and N 3 with age. There were 232 participants, who were 60 years or older, and each was examined using a battery of audiological tests including a questionnaire, otomicroscopy, pure-tone audiometry, and cortical cognitive potentials, measured at Fz using an auditory oddball paradigm. N 200 was elicited in 46.9%, P 300 in 45.1%, and N 3 in 52.2% of the elderly participants. The most significant predictors for presence of cortical responses were the participant's age and hearing level at target tone frequency. Monosyllabic speech recognition score was a less important predictor for presence of response. Response latency in the elderly sample increased steadily with age. Few changes in cortical response amplitude were found with age. We conclude that the speed of central auditory processing seems to be reduced with age.