Eenshuistra Rena M, Ridderinkhof K Richard, van der Molen Maurits W
Cognitive Psychology Unit, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Brain Cogn. 2004 Nov;56(2):177-88. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2004.02.077.
In antisaccade tasks, subjects are required to generate a saccade in the direction opposite to the location of a sudden-onset target stimulus. Compared to young adults, older adults tend to make more reflex-like eye movements towards the target, and/or show longer saccadic onset latencies on correct direct antisaccades. To better understand the nature of these effects of aging on antisaccade performance, we examined the role of age-related deficiencies in inhibitory control vis-a-vis age changes in the engagement of working memory. Inhibitory demands were manipulated using fixation-offset conditions, while working-memory demands were manipulated by varying memory-updating requirements. The results indicate that inhibitory oculomotor functions remain largely intact with advancing age; older adults' performance breaks down only when their limited working-memory capacity is taxed by increasing updating demands.
在反扫视任务中，受试者需要朝着与突然出现的目标刺激位置相反的方向产生扫视。与年轻人相比，老年人往往会朝着目标做出更多类似反射的眼动，和/或在正确的直接反扫视中表现出更长的扫视起始潜伏期。为了更好地理解衰老对反扫视表现的这些影响的本质，我们研究了与年龄相关的抑制控制缺陷相对于工作记忆参与度的年龄变化所起的作用。通过固定偏移条件来操纵抑制需求，同时通过改变记忆更新要求来操纵工作记忆需求。结果表明，随着年龄增长，抑制性眼动功能在很大程度上保持完好；只有当老年人有限的工作记忆容量因不断增加的更新需求而负担过重时，他们的表现才会下降。
