EFFECTS OF AGING ON THE NOVELTY P3 DURING ATTEND AND IGNORE ODDBALL TASKS

The effects of attention were assessed on novelty P3 amplitude and sca lp distribution elicited by environmental sounds in young and elderly volunteers who participated in either actively attended or ignored odd ball conditions. For the young, novelty P3 amplitude decreased with ti me on task during both attend and ignore sequences. Amplitude decremen ts were greatest at frontal sites during the attend condition, but at all sites during the ignore condition. A reliable amplitude decrement was not observed for the elderly in either the attend or ignore oddbal l series. The data suggest that attention differentially activates mul tiple generators that contribute to scalp-recorded novelty P3 activity . The lack of novelty P3 habituation seen in the elderly is consistent with changes in frontal lobe function as age increases.