Abstract
The notion that selective attention is compromised in older adults as a result of impaired inhibitory control is well established. Yet it is primarily based on empirical findings covering the visual modality. Auditory and especially, cross-modal selective attention are remarkably underexposed in the literature on aging. In the past 5 years, we have attempted to fill these voids by investigating performance of younger and older adults on equivalent tasks covering all four combinations of visual or auditory target, and visual or auditory distractor information. In doing so, we have demonstrated that older adults are especially impaired in auditory selective attention with visual distraction. This pattern of results was not mirrored by the results from our psychophysiological studies, however, in which both enhancement of target processing and suppression of distractor processing appeared to be age equivalent. We currently conclude that: (1) age-related differences of selective attention are modality dependent; (2) age-related differences of selective attention are limited; and (3) it remains an open question whether modality-specific age differences in selective attention are due to impaired distractor inhibition, impaired target enhancement, or both. These conclusions put the longstanding inhibitory deficit hypothesis of aging in a new perspective.
Highlights
Reviewed by: Kimmo Alho, University of Helsinki, Finland Anna Catherine McCarrey, National Institute on Aging, USA Gerard Nisal Bischof, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Germany
We have demonstrated that older adults are especially impaired in auditory selective attention with visual distraction
We currently conclude that: (1) age-related differences of selective attention are modality dependent; (2) age-related differences of selective attention are limited; and (3) it remains an open question whether modality-specific age differences in selective attention are due to impaired distractor inhibition, impaired target enhancement, or both
Summary
Since the seminal work on this age-equivalent irrelevant speech effect by Rouleau and Belleville (1996), around a dozen studies have been performed to replicate these findings in various setups. The role of sensory modality in age-related selective attention has been more extensively explored in the psychophysiological literature Studies in this field have focused on the modulation of modality-specific brain activity during cross-modal selective attention: attending to stimuli presented through the visual or auditory modality while ignoring stimuli from the other modality. On the other hand, the same stimuli (i.e., scenes) need to be ignored, the activity in the corresponding area (i.e., parahippocampal place area) should be suppressed Using this paradigm, Gazzaley et al (2005) found older adults to be impaired in cortical suppression of distraction during unimodal visual attention. Together with earlier findings of age-equivalent suppression of cross-modal auditory distraction (e.g., Guerreiro et al, 2014b), this suggests that cross-modal inhibition is robust against aging
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
