Green Amanda J, Cervantez Melissa, Graves Lisa V, Morgan Charlie D, Murphy Claire
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120-4913, USA.
Behav Neurosci. 2013 Jun;127(3):339-49. doi: 10.1037/a0031891.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects 5.4 million Americans. Evidence suggests that individuals who are positive for the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 allele are at higher risk for developing the disease. Studies have also shown that the ε4 allele is linked to olfactory decline. Olfactory functioning may be investigated using olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs). The high temporal resolution of OERPs enables an understanding of the neural correlates of olfactory processing and functioning. This study investigated the effects of age, ApoE ε4 status, response type, and electrode site on OERP latency and amplitude during encoding and retrieval in an odor recognition memory task. The 60 participants were equally divided into 3 age groups matched on ε4 status: younger, middle, and older. Odors were presented using a computer-controlled olfactometer. Participants were notified during encoding that this was a task of odor memory. Results indicated differences in OERP activity as a function of age, ApoE ε4 status, response type, and electrode site. These findings highlight the potential of OERPs to distinguish ε4- and ε4+ individuals and to contribute to an earlier diagnosis of AD.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）影响着540万美国人。有证据表明，载脂蛋白E（ApoE）ε4等位基因呈阳性的个体患该病的风险更高。研究还表明，ε4等位基因与嗅觉衰退有关。嗅觉功能可通过嗅觉事件相关电位（OERP）进行研究。OERP的高时间分辨率有助于理解嗅觉处理和功能的神经关联。本研究调查了年龄、ApoE ε4状态、反应类型和电极部位对气味识别记忆任务中编码和检索期间OERP潜伏期和波幅的影响。60名参与者按ε4状态平均分为3个年龄组：年轻组、中年组和老年组。使用计算机控制的嗅觉计呈现气味。在编码过程中告知参与者这是一项气味记忆任务。结果表明，OERP活动因年龄、ApoE ε4状态、反应类型和电极部位而存在差异。这些发现凸显了OERP在区分ε4和ε4+个体以及有助于AD早期诊断方面的潜力。
