scholarly journals Activation, Inhibition, or Something Else: An Exploratory Study on Response Priming Using Moving Dots as Primes in Middle-Aged and Old Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Christina Bermeitinger ◽  
Cathleen Kappes
Keyword(s):  
Target Stimulus ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Response Priming ◽  
Prime Stimulus ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Inhibitory Deficit ◽  
Short Stimulus ◽  
Young Subjects ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Response priming refers to the finding that a prime stimulus preceding a target stimulus influences the response to the following target stimulus. With young subjects, using moving dot stimuli as primes indicated faster responses to compatible targets (i.e., prime and target are associated with the same response) with short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In contrast, with longer SOAs, participants responded faster to incompatible targets. In the present study, we extended the evidence by comparing middle-aged (50–65 years) and old (66–87 years) adults. With two different motion types, the result found in young participants was replicated in the middle-aged adults. In contrast, old adults showed large positive compatibility effects with the short SOA but neither activation nor inhibition effects with the longer SOA. We discuss our findings in light of several theoretical accounts (i.e., inhibitory deficit, deautomatization, evaluation window account, attention, rapid decay).

Neuro-Behavioral Correlates of Post-Deviance Distraction in Middle-Aged and Old Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Getzmann ◽  
Michael Falkenstein ◽  
Patrick D. Gajewski
Keyword(s):  
Standard Stimulus ◽  
Duration Discrimination ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Deviant Stimulus ◽  
Behavioral Correlates ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

The presentation of a task-irrelevant deviant (novel) stimulus among otherwise repeated standard stimuli usually reduces performance not only for the deviant stimulus, but also for the standard following that deviant. Here, the so-called post-deviance distraction was investigated in 58 middle-aged and 52 old adults, using an auditory duration discrimination task and event-related potential (ERP) measures. After a deviant stimulus, the participants showed a decrease in performance in the subsequent standard stimulus. This effect was more pronounced in the old, than middle-aged, group. Relative to the standard stimuli preceding the deviant, post-deviant standards triggered a chain of mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, and reorienting negativity (RON). While MMN and P3a did not differ in old and middle-aged adults, older participants showed a delayed RON. Assuming the RON to reflect processes of general task or feature reconfiguration and updating, these results suggest a delay in orienting-reorienting mechanisms as possible source of increased post-deviance distraction in elderly.

Mindfulness and action control in young, middle-aged, and old adults: an examination of their relationship to attentional bias towards emotional information

2012 ◽  
pp. 591-626
Author(s):  
Despina Moraitou ◽  
Georgia Papantoniou
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Action Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships of the self-regulatory dispositions of mindfulness and action control with attentional bias towards emotional information in young, middle-aged, and old adults. The participants (N = 185) were 69 young adults (M = 24.7 years; SD = 5.0), 67 middle-aged adults (M = 47.3 years; SD = 7.6), and 49 old adults (M = 73.4 years; SD = 5.6) of both genders. They were divided into three educational levels (low, middle, high) according to the years of education. An emotional color-word interference test (EC-WIT) was designed by the authors to investigate attentional bias towards (a) positively toned and (b) negatively toned information, and it was used along with self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness and action-state orientation. The results indicated that age was related to slower reaction times (RTs) for the two conditions of the EC-WIT, while the higher the level of education the faster the RTs. Decision-related action orientation was associated with a decreasing level of negativity bias in early attention orienting only in young adults. Mindfulness was associated with a decreasing level of attentional bias towards emotional information, either positive or negative, only in middle-aged adults.

Assessing Articulatory Speed Performance as a Potential Factor of Slowed Speech in Older Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje S. Mefferd ◽  
Erin E. Corder
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Lower Lip ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Speed Performance ◽  
Middle Aged Adults ◽  
Peak Speed

Purpose To improve our understanding about the underlying factors of aging-related speaking rate decline, the authors sought to determine if lip and jaw speeds are physiologically constrained in older adults. Method Thirty-six females—10 young adults (ages 22–27 years), 9 middle-aged adults (ages 45–55 years), 10 young-old adults (65–74 years), and 7 very old adults (ages 87–95 years)—completed metronome-paced syllable repetitions while moving the lower lip or jaw to a fixed target with each repetition. Metronome paces incrementally increased from 1.4 Hz to 6.7 Hz. Lip and jaw movements were tracked using a 3-dimensional motion capture system. Results Older adults' maximum percent increase in lip and jaw peak speed was comparable to or tended to be even greater than that of middle-aged and young adults. By contrast, lip and jaw stiffness, indexed by peak speed–displacement ratios, tended to decrease with age during fast and very fast repetition rates and were associated with mildly prolonged movement durations. Conclusions The findings suggest that lip and jaw speeds are not constrained in older adults. The trend of reduced stiffness during fast rates, however, suggests that fine-force regulation becomes difficult for older adults. Thus, older adults may implement reduced habitual speaking rates as a behavioral strategy to compensate for diminished articulatory control.

scholarly journals Does Age Modify the Cost-Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions?

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Roux ◽  
Mike Pratt ◽  
I-Min Lee ◽  
Terry Bazzarre ◽  
David Buchner
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Background:Community-based efforts to promote physical activity (PA) in adults have been found to be cost-effective in general, but it is unknown if this is true in middle-age specifically. Age group-specific economic evaluations could help inform the design and delivery of better and more tailored PA promotion.Methods:A Markov model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness (CE) of 7 exemplar community-level interventions to promote PA recommended by the Guide to Community Preventive Services, over a 20-year horizon. The CE of these interventions in 25- to 64-year-old adults was compared with their CE in middle-aged adults, aged 50 to 64 years. The robustness of the results was examined through sensitivity analyses.Results:Cost/QALY (quality-adjusted life year) of the evaluated interventions in 25- to 64-year-olds ranged from $42,456/QALY to $145,868/QALY. Interventions were more cost-effective in middle-aged adults, with CE ratios 38% to 47% lower than in 25- to 64-year-old adults. Sensitivity analyses showed greater than a 90% probability that the true CE of 4 of the 7 interventions was below $125,000/QALY in adults aged 50 to 64 years.Conclusion:The exemplar PA promotion interventions evaluated appeared to be especially cost-effective for middle-aged adults. Prioritizing such efforts to this age group is a good use of societal resources.

Peg-manipulation capabilities of middle-aged adults have a greater influence on pegboard times than those of young and old adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 236 (8) ◽  
pp. 2165-2172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awad M. Almuklass ◽  
Daniel F. Feeney ◽  
Diba Mani ◽  
Landon D. Hamilton ◽  
Roger M. Enoka
Keyword(s):  
Middle Aged ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Middle Aged Adults
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