OLFACTORY EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS - OLDER MALES DEMONSTRATE THE GREATEST DEFICITS

Olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs) were recorded monopolarly a t the Fz, Cz, and Pz electrode sites in 16 young adults (8M/8F) and 16 older adults (8M/8F) with inter-stimulus intervals (ISI) of 45, 60 an d 90 s using amyl acetate as the odorant stimulus, N1, P2, and N2 peak amplitudes and latencies were measured, Young participants demonstrat ed significantly shorter peak latencies than older participants, Older males demonstrated significantly smaller peak amplitudes than the oth er participant groups. Peak amplitudes also increased with longer ISIs for older males. The OERP is compared to traditional olfactory psycho physical testing. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.