Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2024 Dec;24(6):1048-1064. doi: 10.3758/s13415-024-01220-w. Epub 2024 Sep 10.
Stochastic resonance (SR) is the phenomenon wherein the introduction of a suitable level of noise enhances the detection of subthreshold signals in non linear systems. It manifests across various physical and biological systems, including the human brain. Psychophysical experiments have confirmed the behavioural impact of stochastic resonance on auditory, somatic, and visual perception. Aging renders the brain more susceptible to noise, possibly causing differences in the SR phenomenon between young and elderly individuals. This study investigates the impact of noise on motion detection accuracy throughout the lifespan, with 214 participants ranging in age from 18 to 82. Our objective was to determine the optimal noise level to induce an SR-like response in both young and old populations. Consistent with existing literature, our findings reveal a diminishing advantage with age, indicating that the efficacy of noise addition progressively diminishes. Additionally, as individuals age, peak performance is achieved with lower levels of noise. This study provides the first insight into how SR changes across the lifespan of healthy adults and establishes a foundation for understanding the pathological alterations in perceptual processes associated with aging.
随机共振（SR）是一种现象，即在非线性系统中引入适当水平的噪声可以增强对亚阈值信号的检测。它在各种物理和生物系统中都有表现，包括人类大脑。心理物理学实验已经证实了随机共振对听觉、躯体感觉和视觉感知的行为影响。随着年龄的增长，大脑更容易受到噪声的影响，这可能导致年轻人和老年人之间的随机共振现象存在差异。本研究调查了噪声对整个生命周期中运动检测准确性的影响，共有 214 名参与者，年龄从 18 岁到 82 岁不等。我们的目标是确定在年轻和老年人群中诱导类似随机共振的反应的最佳噪声水平。与现有文献一致，我们的研究结果表明，随着年龄的增长，优势逐渐减弱，这表明噪声的添加效果逐渐减弱。此外，随着年龄的增长，个体在较低水平的噪声下达到最佳表现。这项研究首次揭示了随机共振如何在健康成年人的整个生命周期中发生变化，并为理解与年龄相关的感知过程的病理变化奠定了基础。
