Effects of physiological aging on mismatch negativity: a meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Auditory Perception
• Gerontology

Background:

• Mismatch negativity (MMN) assesses auditory sensory memory and change discrimination.
• Aging's impact on MMN, especially at short interstimulus intervals (ISIs), remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a meta-analysis on MMN studies comparing young and elderly adults.
• To estimate the mean effect size of aging on MMN.
• To investigate the influence of deviant types and ISIs on MMN effect sizes.

Main Methods:

• Meta-analysis of nine peer-reviewed MMN studies.
• Inclusion of 182 young and 165 elderly subjects.
• Assessment of MMN responses to duration and frequency deviants at short (<2s) and long (>2s) ISIs.

Main Results:

• Overall mean effect size for MMN was 0.63.
• Moderate effect sizes observed for both short (0.61) and long (0.68) ISIs.
• A significant aging-related decrease in MMN responses to duration and frequency changes at short ISIs was found.
• Duration deviants showed a larger effect size (approx. 25%) than frequency deviants.

Conclusions:

• Reduced MMN response to duration and frequency deviants is a robust finding in older adults.
• This suggests a decline in the functional integrity of central auditory processing with age.