Apolipoprotein E modulates auditory event-related potentials in healthy aging

42 individuals ranging from 47 to 73 years of age underwent an auditory three-stimulus oddball task while their event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Half were APOE 0 homozygotes and the remaining participants were either epsilon 3/epsilon 4 heterozygotes (n = 13), or epsilon 4 homozygotes (n = 8). Analyses of variance showed that the heterozygotes had lower N1 amplitudes than the epsilon 3 homozygotes, consistent with a previous study of participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) [I. Reinvang, T. Espeseth, L Gjerstad, Cognitive ERPs are related to ApoE allelic variation in mildly cognitively impaired patients, Neuroscience Letters 382 (3) (2005) 346-351]. APOE genotype also significantly modulated N2 latency. epsilon 4 homozygotes had longer N2 latencies, and importantly, longer N2 latencies predicted declined in verbal learning after 3.5 years follow up. These findings indicate a potential clinical significance of individual differences in ERP components N1 and N2. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.