Hans-Berger Department of Neurology, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany; General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Hans-Berger Department of Neurology, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany.
Neurobiol Aging. 2021 Jun;102:23-31. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.01.031. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
External warning cues temporarily increase the brain's sensitivity for upcoming events, helping individuals to flexibly adapt their reactions to the requirements of complex visual environments. Previous studies reported that younger and cognitively normal older adults profit from phasic alerting cues. Such an intact phasic alerting mechanism could be even more relevant in individuals with Alzheimer's disease who are characterized by reduced processing capacities. The present study employed a theory of visual attention based verbal whole report paradigm with auditory cues in order to investigate phasic alerting effects in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Patients with aMCI were also compared to a previously reported sample of cognitively normal older adults. In patients with aMCI, visual processing speed was higher in the cue compared to the no-cue condition. Further, visual processing speed was reduced in patients with aMCI compared to cognitively normal older adults. Taken together, the results suggest that the processing system of patients with aMCI exhibits general declines but can still integrate auditory warning signals on a perceptual level.
外部警示线索会暂时提高大脑对即将发生事件的敏感性，帮助个体灵活调整反应以适应复杂视觉环境的要求。先前的研究报告称，年轻和认知正常的老年人从阶段性警觉线索中受益。在阿尔茨海默病患者中，这种完整的阶段性警觉机制可能更为重要，因为他们的处理能力降低。本研究采用了基于视觉注意理论的口头全报告范式，并结合听觉线索，以研究遗忘型轻度认知障碍（aMCI）中的阶段性警觉效应。还将 aMCI 患者与之前报道的认知正常老年人样本进行了比较。在 aMCI 患者中，与无线索条件相比，线索条件下的视觉处理速度更高。此外，与认知正常的老年人相比，aMCI 患者的视觉处理速度降低。总之，这些结果表明，aMCI 患者的处理系统表现出普遍下降，但仍可以在感知层面上整合听觉警告信号。
