Mevorach Carmel, Spaniol Mayra Muller, Soden Matthew, Galea Joseph M
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham,
J Vis. 2016 Sep 1;16(11):27. doi: 10.1167/16.11.27.
The ability to inhibit distracting information-distractor suppression-is a fundamental process for the visual and motor systems. Whereas aging is typically linked to a general decline in cognitive processing, a specific impairment in distractor suppression is found during visual attention tasks. Despite this, the effect of aging on a human's capacity to inhibit distracting information during a motor task is currently unknown. Therefore, we tested the ability of young and older adults to inhibit distracting information during a visual attention (global-local) and a motor (reaching) task. When faced with distractors, younger and older adults displayed significant behavioral impairments (accuracy and speed) across both tasks. However, these deficits were substantially enhanced in older adults. Intriguingly, the amount of distractor impairment observed within each participant was correlated across the visual and motor tasks, irrespective of age group. Thus, while all participants' ability to inhibit distractors was correlated across the visual and motor domain, older adults displayed a generalized distractor inhibition deficit. We propose that a shift from proactive to reactive control in older adults could explain such impairment. These results may have important implications regarding the ability of older adults to effectively deal with distractors during complex visuomotor tasks such as driving.
抑制干扰信息的能力——干扰抑制——是视觉和运动系统的一个基本过程。虽然衰老通常与认知加工的普遍下降有关，但在视觉注意力任务中发现了干扰抑制方面的特定损伤。尽管如此，衰老对人类在运动任务中抑制干扰信息能力的影响目前尚不清楚。因此，我们测试了年轻人和老年人在视觉注意力（全局-局部）和运动（伸手）任务中抑制干扰信息的能力。面对干扰物时，年轻人和老年人在两项任务中均表现出显著的行为损伤（准确性和速度）。然而，这些缺陷在老年人中显著增强。有趣的是，无论年龄组如何，每个参与者在视觉和运动任务中观察到的干扰物损伤量都是相关的。因此，虽然所有参与者抑制干扰物的能力在视觉和运动领域是相关的，但老年人表现出普遍的干扰抑制缺陷。我们认为，老年人从主动控制向反应性控制的转变可以解释这种损伤。这些结果可能对老年人在复杂视觉运动任务（如驾驶）中有效应对干扰物的能力具有重要意义。
