Department of Psychology.
Psychol Aging. 2013 Sep;28(3):796-801. doi: 10.1037/a0032015. Epub 2013 Apr 15.
Stimuli that project onto central vision facilitate maintenance of eye position, a phenomenon called the fixation reflex. Endogenous control over this fixation reflex enables one to willfully look away. The current study investigated whether these behaviors, which are important for effective visual orienting, change with advancing age. Previous research established that patients with frontal lobe damage exhibit weaker fixation reflexes and reduced control over this reflex. In light of brain atrophy occurring during healthy aging, we predicted similar but less robust changes in neurologically healthy older relative to young adults. The results generally supported this prediction, which has negative implications for performance of time-sensitive visual-orienting tasks.
刺激投射到中央视觉有助于维持眼球位置，这一现象被称为固视反射。对这种固视反射的内源性控制使人们能够有意地将目光移开。本研究调查了这些对有效视觉定向很重要的行为是否会随着年龄的增长而变化。先前的研究表明，额叶损伤的患者表现出较弱的固视反射和对这种反射的控制能力降低。鉴于健康衰老过程中大脑的萎缩，我们预测在神经健康的老年人中会出现类似但不那么明显的变化，与年轻人相比。结果普遍支持这一预测，这对需要时间的视觉定向任务的表现有负面影响。
