Age-related Changes to Attention and Working Memory: An Electrophysiological Study

• Main Author: Wilson, Kristin
• Other Authors: Ferber, Susanne
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Electroencephalogram (EEG); event-related-potential; aging; attention; N2pc; Ptc; visual; vision; working memory; localized attentional interference; change-detection; inhibition; target enhancement; selective attention; spatial attention; visual short-term memory; processing speed; elderly; development; psychology; 0621; 0384; 0633; 0620; 0623; 0989; 0349; 0317; 0758
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/25517

The aim of this thesis was to help elucidate the mechanisms that underlie age-related decline in visual selective attention and working memory (WM). Older and younger adults completed a behavioural WM task, after which electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded as participants perform a localized attentional interference (LAI) task – competition/attentional interference was manipulated by systematically altering the distance between targets and distractors. Older adults showed impaired accuracy and reaction time on the WM and LAI tasks. Two event-related-potentials, indexing spatial attention (N2pc) and target processing (Ptc), displayed attenuated amplitude and increased latency in older adults. Thus, spatial selection, target enhancement and processing speed deficits may contribute to age-related attentional impairments. Furthermore, an unexpected component was found between the N2pc and Ptc in the older adult waveforms. Preliminary analyses suggest this may be the PD, implicated in distractor suppression, which may be differentially contributing to older and younger adults’ electrophysiology and attentional processing.