[Can age-dependent cognitive functions be measured? P300 potentials--concept of brain aging--early diagnosis of dementia processes]

Event related P300 potentials as the electrophysiological substrate of cognitive functions, such as the stimulus processing time (P300 latencies) and visual attention capacity (P300 amplitudes) are suitable for the analysis of age-related changes in cognitive human brain functions. P300 investigations carried out in a total of 330 test subjects aged between 18 and 98 years, showed an overall slight prolongation of the P300 latencies by 10 ms for each decade, as well as a discrete reduction in the P300 amplitudes of 1 microV. To describe the relationship between the P300 parameters and chronological age, polynomial regression models are more suitable than linear functions. This means that in middle-age, P300 potentials change only slightly while, from about the age of 60 upwards, a noticeable acceleration in the P300 changes takes place. An interesting observation was the fact that the acceleration in the P300 latency increase occurred some 10 years earlier in women than in men, beginning in the early postmenopausal period. The polynomial course of the regression function for the age-dependence of P300 potentials might reflect the positive influence of socio-cultural factors on the aging of cognitive functions. The true extent of the age-related changes in cognitive functions, however, can be determined only with the aid of intra-individual longitudinal studies. This is of considerable importance for the early diagnosis of both metabolic and primarily degenerative encephalopathies.