Andrés Pilar, Parmentier Fabrice B R, Escera Carles
School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
Neuropsychologia. 2006;44(12):2564-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.05.005. Epub 2006 Jun 22.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of aging on the involuntary capture of attention by irrelevant sounds (distraction) and the use of these sounds as warning cues (alertness) in an oddball paradigm. We compared the performance of older and younger participants on a well-characterized auditory-visual distraction task. Based on the dissociations observed in aging between attentional processes sustained by the anterior and posterior attentional networks, our prediction was that distraction by irrelevant novel sounds would be stronger in older adults than in young adults while both groups would be equally able to use sound as an alert to prepare for upcoming stimuli. The results confirmed both predictions: there was a larger distraction effect in the older participants, but the alert effect was equivalent in both groups. These results give support to the frontal hypothesis of aging [Raz, N. (2000). Aging of the brain and its impact on cognitive performance: integration of structural and functional finding. In F.I.M. Craik & T.A. Salthouse (Eds.) Handbook of aging and cognition (pp. 1-90). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; West, R. (1996). An application of prefrontal cortex function theory to cognitive aging. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 272-292].
本研究的目的是在一个Oddball范式中，考察衰老对无关声音非自愿吸引注意力（分心）的影响，以及将这些声音用作警告线索（警觉）的情况。我们比较了老年和年轻参与者在一个特征明确的视听分心任务中的表现。基于在衰老过程中观察到的前注意网络和后注意网络维持的注意过程之间的分离，我们预测，与年轻人相比，无关的新声音对老年人的分心作用更强，而两组在将声音用作即将到来刺激的警觉方面能力相当。结果证实了这两个预测：老年参与者的分心效应更大，但两组的警觉效应相当。这些结果支持了衰老的额叶假说[拉兹，N.（2000年）。大脑衰老及其对认知表现的影响：结构和功能发现的整合。载于F.I.M. 克雷克和T.A. 萨尔托斯（编）《衰老与认知手册》（第1 - 90页）。新泽西州马哈瓦：埃尔拉姆；韦斯特，R.（1996年）。前额叶皮层功能理论在认知衰老中的应用。《心理通报》，120，272 - 292]。
