Changes in the retinocortical evoked potentials in subjects 75 years of age and older

Objective: Current trends are showing a rapid increase in the elderly popul ation, particularly the subgroup that is 75 years of age or more. Consideri ng the fact that several ocular diseases are more prevalent among the elder ly, it is increasingly important to investigate normal visual function in t his subgroup of our population. The objective of this study was to determin e the effects of advanced aging on visual retinocortical function by evalua ting the electrophysiological responses of the most rapidly increasing segm ent of the geriatric population. Methods: Fifty-eight healthy subjects between the ages of 20-32 years (n = 30) and 75-88 years (n = 28) participated in this study. We recorded their pattern electroretinograms (ERGs) and cortical visual evoked potentials (VE Ps) under stimulus conditions biased toward the preferential response of th e magnocellular and parvocellular subdivisions of the visual system. Results: Elderly subjects showed reduced ERG amplitudes relative to young p articipants. The amplitude of the VEPs also decreased with age, while their latency increased. The effect of senescence was most apparent under stimul us conditions combining the magnocellular and parvocellular pathway contrib utions and less pronounced when tile stimulus conditions were biased to fav or the response of either system. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that visual retinal and cortical funct ion deteriorates with old age. Our data further indicate that senescence ha s widespread effects on the visual system, altering the functioning of both the magnocellular and panvocellular Visual pathways. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.