Boudiaf Naïla, Laboissière Rafael, Cousin Émilie, Fournet Nathalie, Krainik Alexandre, Baciu Monica
a Université Grenoble Alpes , LPNC , Grenoble , France.
b CNRS, LPNC UMR 5105 , Grenoble , France.
Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2018 Jan;25(1):1-22. doi: 10.1080/13825585.2016.1257100. Epub 2016 Nov 24.
The effect of normal aging on lexical production and semantic processing was evaluated in 72 healthy participants. Four tasks were used, picture naming (PN), picture categorization (PC), numerical judgment (NJ), and color judgment (CJ). The dependence of reaction time (RT) and correct responses with age was accounted by mixed-effects models. Participants underwent neuropsychological testing for verbal, executive, and memory functions. The RTs increase significantly with age for all tasks. After parceling out the non-specific cognitive decline, as reflected by the NJ task, the RT for the PN task decreases with age. Behavioral data were interpreted in relation with neuropsychological scores. Our results suggest that (a) naming becomes more automatic and semantic processing slightly more difficult with age, and (b) a non-specific general slowdown of cognitive processing occurs with age. Lexical production remained unaltered, based on compensatory automatic processes. This study also suggests a possible slowdown of semantic processing, even in normal aging.
在72名健康参与者中评估了正常衰老对词汇生成和语义加工的影响。使用了四项任务，即图片命名（PN）、图片分类（PC）、数字判断（NJ）和颜色判断（CJ）。反应时间（RT）和正确反应与年龄的相关性由混合效应模型进行分析。参与者接受了针对语言、执行和记忆功能的神经心理学测试。所有任务的反应时间均随年龄显著增加。在排除由数字判断任务所反映的非特异性认知衰退后，图片命名任务的反应时间随年龄下降。行为数据与神经心理学分数相关联进行解释。我们的结果表明：（a）随着年龄增长，命名变得更加自动化，语义加工略有困难；（b）随着年龄增长，认知加工出现非特异性的普遍减慢。基于代偿性自动过程，词汇生成保持不变。这项研究还表明，即使在正常衰老过程中，语义加工也可能减慢。
