Olfactory Evoked Potentials in Clinical Populations

描述（由申请人提供）：最佳的健康，功能和营养状况是美国老年人生活质量的关键。超过3500万美国人年龄超过60岁，最年长的老年人是美国人口中增长最快的部分。大约25%的50岁以上的人和超过60%的80岁以上的人具有嗅觉障碍（Murphy等人，2002年）。此外，嗅觉功能在阿尔茨海默病中受到显著影响，阿尔茨海默病是一种影响超过500万美国老年人的毁灭性疾病。它对个人、照顾者、卫生保健系统和社会的个人和经济影响是深远的。虽然与年龄相关的嗅觉障碍的心理物理和感知表现是已知的，但其潜在的神经原因尚不清楚。本申请将采用神经电地形图绘制程序来在气味信息处理期间对老化大脑进行成像，以便测试以下总体假设：在EEG/ERP活动中可检测到的中枢神经系统（CNS）活动的功能变化反映了老化中的化学感觉丧失。为了实现这一目标，我们已经开发了嗅觉事件相关电位（OERP）技术，可以应用于多电极阵列和刺激技术，目前嗅觉刺激与精确的时间。这些范例探测气味记忆过程，特别是容易老化和痴呆。这些方法将提供有关正常年龄改变的CNS激活模式的幅度和时间的大量信息，与痴呆症引起的认知障碍风险进行比较。反映嗅觉中枢神经系统损害的神经电测量可以作为痴呆的标志物，因此，具有相当大的潜在临床意义。该项目的结果将加深我们对健康和疾病中衰老大脑嗅觉处理变化的理解。化学感受功能特别是嗅觉功能的受损会对老年人的饮食选择、营养状况、发病率和死亡率产生负面影响（Schiffman，1997年）。更好地了解化学感觉功能可能会建议优化老年人的健康和生活质量的途径。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Optimum health, functioning and nutritional status are key to the quality of life in the older American. More than 35 million Americans are over the age of 60, and the oldest old represent the fastest growing segment of the American population. Approximately 25% of those over 50 and more than 60% of those over 80 years have olfactory impairment (Murphy et al., 2002). Furthermore, olfactory function is significantly affected in Alzheimer's disease, a devastating disease that affects more than 5 million older Americans. Its personal and financial impact on the individual, the caregiver(s), the health care system and society are profound. Although the psychophysical and perceptual manifestations of age-related olfactory impairment are known, tie underlying neural causes are unclear. The present application will employ neuroelectric topographic mapping procedures to image the aging brain during odor information processing in order to test the overarching hypothesis that functional changes in central nervous system (CNS) activity, detectable in EEG/ERP activity, reflect chemosensory loss in aging. To accomplish this goal we have developed olfactory event-related potential (OERP) techniques that can be applied in multi-electrode arrays and the stimulation techniques necessary to present olfactory stimuli with precise timing. These paradigms probe odor memory processes particularly vulnerable to aging and dementia. These methods will provide substantial information about the magnitude and timing of normal age altered CNS activation patterns in comparison to those at risk for cognitive impairment from dementing illness. Neuroelectric measures that reflect olfactory CNS impairment may serve as a marker for dementia and, therefore, have considerable potential clinical significance. The results of this project will deepen our understanding of changes in olfactory processing in the aging brain in health and disease. Impairment of chemosensory and specifically olfactory function can negatively impact dietary selection, nutritional status, morbidity and mortality in older persons (Schiffman, 1997). A better understanding of chemosensory function may suggest avenues to optimize health and quality of life in older adults.