Auditory sensory memory and the aging brain: A mismatch negativity study

The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential has been used in the past to study between group differences in the accuracy and retention of information in auditory sensory memory (ASM). The MMN is elicited by infrequent ‘deviant’ tones that differ from a repeating ‘standard’ tone. In the present study, the type of deviant and the time interval between tones (stimulus-onset asynchrony: SOA) were manipulated in a study of normal aging. MMN responses of an elderly (mean age = 69) and a young group (mean age = 21) to both a duration and a frequency deviant tone were measured at a short (450 ms) and long (3 s) SOA. A smaller and later MMN (recorded at Fz) was observed in the elderly relative to the young group across SOA and Deviant conditions. The results are consistent with an age-related deficit in the encoding of sound properties in ASM. However, analysis of the MMN reversal at the mastoids provides some support for the proposal that the elderly have an additional deficit related to the retention of information in ASM.