Amsterdam Center for the Study of Adaptive Control in Brain and Behavior (Acacia), Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Biol Psychol. 2012 Feb;89(2):323-34. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.11.005. Epub 2011 Nov 24.
Response speed improves from childhood to early adulthood and declines steadily with advancing age. The present event-related brain potential (ERP) study explored the contribution of the primary motor cortex (M1) to lifespan changes in response speed and accuracy using a choice reaction time (RT) task. Two groups of children (8 and 12 years) and two groups of adults (21 and 76 years) responded to left- or right-pointing arrows. RTs showed a typical U-shaped lifespan pattern. RT was segmented into pre-selection time, pre-motor time, and motor time by using the onset of the central motor command (i.e., LRP, and the negative Laplacian potential) and the onset of response-related EMG. Pre-motor time was most sensitive to age-related change. In addition, the positive Laplacian potential, assumed to be associated with inhibition of the incorrect response alternative, was absent in children. In adults, the onset of the ipsilateral positivity started before the onset of the contralateral negativity but in elderly the onsets occurred approximately at the same time. This pattern of findings is consistent with the observed differences in choice error rates between age groups. Taken together, the lifespan changes in motor potentials point to suboptimal motor response control in children and the elderly compared to young adults.
反应速度从儿童期到成年早期逐渐提高，然后随着年龄的增长稳步下降。本事件相关脑电位 (ERP) 研究使用选择反应时 (RT) 任务，探讨了初级运动皮层 (M1) 对反应速度和准确性的寿命变化的贡献。两组儿童 (8 岁和 12 岁) 和两组成年人 (21 岁和 76 岁) 对指向左侧或右侧的箭头做出反应。RT 表现出典型的 U 形寿命模式。通过使用中央运动指令的起始 (即 LRP 和负拉普拉斯电势) 和与反应相关的肌电图的起始，将 RT 分为预选时间、预运动时间和运动时间。预运动时间对年龄相关变化最敏感。此外，假定与抑制错误反应选择相关的正拉普拉斯电势在儿童中不存在。在成年人中，同侧正电势的起始时间早于对侧负电势的起始时间，但在老年人中，起始时间几乎相同。这种发现模式与不同年龄组之间选择错误率的差异一致。综上所述，运动电位的寿命变化表明儿童和老年人的运动反应控制不如年轻人理想。
