Event-related potentials (P300) in outpatient amnesiacs

The relation between cognitive impairment and event-related potentials (P300) was assessed in different types of dementia. Subjects were senile patients 65 years of age or over with amnesia as a complaint including Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, age-associated memory impairment and others. P300 potentials were recorded from central and parietal locations, and were referenced to linked earlobes. Neuropsychological tests conducted included the mini-mental state examination (MMS), the word fluency test (WFT), auditory-verbal learning test (AVLT) and Raven's colored progressive matrices (RCPM). There was a significant difference in P300 latency between dementia and normal subjects. Significant negative correlations were detected between P300 latency and MMS, AVLT, WFT and RCPM. P300 was concluded to be useful in assistance diagnosis for dementia and in predicting neuropsychological states.