scholarly journals Multistable Perception in Older Adults: Constructing a Whole from Fragments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushi Patel ◽  
Maureen J. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Necker Cube ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Visual Stability ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Multistable Perception ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Young Old

Visual perception is constructive in nature; that is, a coherent whole is generated from ambiguous fragments that are encountered in dynamic visual scenes. Creating this coherent whole from fragmented sensory inputs requires one to detect, identify, distinguish and organize sensory input. The organization of fragments into a coherent whole is facilitated by the continuous interactions between lower level sensory inputs and higher order processes. However, age-related declines are found in both neural structures and cognitive processes (e.g., attention and inhibition). The impact of these declines on the constructive nature of visual processing was the focus of this study. Here we asked younger adults, young-old (65–79 years), and old-old adults (80+ years) to view a multistable figure (i.e., Necker cube) under four conditions (free, priming, volition, and adaptation) and report, via a button press, when percepts spontaneously changed. The oldest-olds, unlike young-olds and younger adults, were influenced by priming, had less visual stability during volition and showed less ability to adapt to multistable stimuli. These results suggest that the ability to construct a coherent whole from fragments declines with age. More specifically, vision is constructed differently in the old-olds, which might influence environmental interpretations and navigational abilities in this age group.

scholarly journals Multistable Perception in Older Adults: Constructing a Whole from Fragments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushi Patel ◽  
Maureen J. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Necker Cube ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Visual Stability ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Multistable Perception ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Young Old

Visual perception is constructive in nature; that is, a coherent whole is generated from ambiguous fragments that are encountered in dynamic visual scenes. Creating this coherent whole from fragmented sensory inputs requires one to detect, identify, distinguish and organize sensory input. The organization of fragments into a coherent whole is facilitated by the continuous interactions between lower level sensory inputs and higher order processes. However, age-related declines are found in both neural structures and cognitive processes (e.g., attention and inhibition). The impact of these declines on the constructive nature of visual processing was the focus of this study. Here we asked younger adults, young-old (65–79 years), and old-old adults (80+ years) to view a multistable figure (i.e., Necker cube) under four conditions (free, priming, volition, and adaptation) and report, via a button press, when percepts spontaneously changed. The oldest-olds, unlike young-olds and younger adults, were influenced by priming, had less visual stability during volition and showed less ability to adapt to multistable stimuli. These results suggest that the ability to construct a coherent whole from fragments declines with age. More specifically, vision is constructed differently in the old-olds, which might influence environmental interpretations and navigational abilities in this age group.

scholarly journals EEG beta-modulations reflect age-specific motor resource allocation during dual-task walking

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Protzak ◽  
Klaus Gramann
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Parallel Execution ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Motor Tasks ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Manual Responses ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe parallel execution of two motor tasks can lead to performance decrements in either one or both of the tasks. Age-related declines can further magnify the underlying competition for cognitive resources. However, little is known about the neural dynamics underlying motor resource allocation during dual-task walking. To better understand motor resource conflicts, this study investigated sensorimotor brain rhythms in younger and older adults using a dual-task protocol. Time-frequency data from two independent component motor clusters were extracted from electroencephalography data during sitting and walking with an additional task requiring manual responses. Button press-related desynchronization in the alpha and beta frequency range were analyzed for the impact of age (< 35 years, ≥ 70 years) and motor task (sitting, walking). Button press-related desynchronization in the beta band was more pronounced for older participants and both age groups demonstrated less pronounced desynchronizations in both frequency bands during walking compared to sitting. Older participants revealed less power modulations between sitting and walking, and less pronounced changes in beta and alpha suppression were associated with greater slowing in walking speed. Our results indicate age-specific allocations strategies during dual-task walking as well as interdependencies of concurrently performed motor tasks reflected in modulations of sensorimotor rhythms.

scholarly journals Normal Aging Delays and Compromises Early Multifocal Visual Attention during Object Tracking

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viola S. Störmer ◽  
Shu-Chen Li ◽  
Hauke R. Heekeren ◽  
Ulman Lindenberger
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Object Tracking ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Normal Aging ◽  
Multiple Object Tracking ◽  
Attentional Modulation ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Multiple Object ◽  
Age Related

Declines in selective attention are one of the sources contributing to age-related impairments in a broad range of cognitive functions. Most previous research on mechanisms underlying older adults' selection deficits has studied the deployment of visual attention to static objects and features. Here we investigate neural correlates of age-related differences in spatial attention to multiple objects as they move. We used a multiple object tracking task, in which younger and older adults were asked to keep track of moving target objects that moved randomly in the visual field among irrelevant distractor objects. By recording the brain's electrophysiological responses during the tracking period, we were able to delineate neural processing for targets and distractors at early stages of visual processing (∼100–300 msec). Older adults showed less selective attentional modulation in the early phase of the visual P1 component (100–125 msec) than younger adults, indicating that early selection is compromised in old age. However, with a 25-msec delay relative to younger adults, older adults showed distinct processing of targets (125–150 msec), that is, a delayed yet intact attentional modulation. The magnitude of this delayed attentional modulation was related to tracking performance in older adults. The amplitude of the N1 component (175–210 msec) was smaller in older adults than in younger adults, and the target amplification effect of this component was also smaller in older relative to younger adults. Overall, these results indicate that normal aging affects the efficiency and timing of early visual processing during multiple object tracking.

scholarly journals EXPRESS: Age-related changes in time perception: The impact of naturalistic environments and retrospective judgments on timing performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110233
Author(s):  
Martin Riemer ◽  
Thomas Wolbers ◽  
Hedderik van Rijn
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Time Perception ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Reduced Complexity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Age Related Changes

Reduced timing abilities have been reported in older adults and are associated with pathological cognitive decline. However, time perception experiments often lack ecological validity. Especially the reduced complexity of experimental stimuli and the participants’ awareness of the time-related nature of the task can influence lab-assessed timing performance and thereby conceal age-related differences. An approximation of more naturalistic paradigms can provide important information about age-related changes in timing abilities. To determine the impact of higher ecological validity on timing experiments, we implemented a paradigm that allowed us to test (i) the effect of embedding the to-be-timed stimuli within a naturalistic visual scene, and (ii) the effect of retrospective time judgments, which are more common in real life than prospective judgments. The results show that, compared to out-of-context stimuli, younger adults benefit from a naturalistic embedding of stimuli (reflected in higher precision and less errors), whereas the performance of older adults is reduced when confronted with naturalistic stimuli. Differences between retrospective and prospective time judgments were not modulated by age. We conclude that, potentially driven by difficulties in suppressing temporally irrelevant environmental information, the contextual embedding of naturalistic stimuli can affect the degree to which age influences the performance in time perception tasks.

scholarly journals The impact of visual acuity on age-related differences in neural markers of early visual processing

NeuroImage ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk R. Daffner ◽  
Anna E. Haring ◽  
Brittany R. Alperin ◽  
Tatyana Y. Zhuravleva ◽  
Katherine K. Mott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Early Visual Processing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Neural Markers ◽  
The Impact

Ambient GABA Responsible for Age-Related Changes in Multistable Perception

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1164-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Hoshino
Keyword(s):  
Elderly People ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Necker Cube ◽  
Burst Firing ◽  
Cell Assembly ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Multistable Perception ◽  
Dynamic Cell ◽  
Ambient Gaba ◽  
Multiple Cell

Multistable perception is a psychophysical phenomenon in which one unique interpretation alternates spontaneously every few seconds between two or more interpretations of the same sensory input. Well-known examples include the Necker cube and face-vase illusions in vision. Interestingly, young adults generally see more perceptual switches than do elderly people. To understand the underlying neuronal mechanism of age-related multistable perception, we simulated a cortical neural network model that consists of multiple cell assemblies. In the network, a specific population of noncore cells and a common population of core cells form a cell assembly that represents a single object (or event). Every dynamic cell assembly, activated by a given sensory input, involves the common (overlapping) population of core cells. Ambient GABA-mediated intracortical tonic inhibition via extrasynaptic GABAa receptors destabilized the currently appearing dynamic cell assembly and terminated its burst firing. This allowed another dynamic cell assembly to emerge one after the other. Namely, multistable perception took place. Transporters, which were embedded in axon terminal membranes of interneurons, regulated levels of ambient GABA. For elderly people, we assumed a decline in transporter. This decelerated GABA augmentation and resulted in prolonging the durations of burst firing and thus in slowing perceptual switches. We suggest that poor control of ambient GABA levels due to age-related decline in GABA transporter may be responsible for the slowing of perceptual switches in elderly people.

scholarly journals Looking on the Bright Side: Aging and the Impact of Emotional Future Simulation on Subsequent Memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1831-1840
Author(s):  
Aleea L Devitt ◽  
Daniel L Schacter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Temporal Delay ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Functional Consequences ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Bright Side ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objectives When younger adults simulated positive future events, subsequent memory is positively biased. In the current studies, we explore age-related changes in the impact of emotional future simulation on subsequent memory. Methods In Experiment 1, younger and older adults simulated emotional future events before learning the hypothetical outcome of each event via narratives. Memory was assessed for emotional details contained in those narratives. In Experiment 2, a shorter temporal delay between simulation and narrative encoding was used to reduce decay of simulation memory over time. Results Future simulation did not bias subsequent memory for older adults in Experiment 1. However, older adults performed similar to younger adults in Experiment 2, with more liberal responses to positive information after positive simulation. Discussion The impact of an optimistic outlook on subsequent memory is reduced with age, which may be at least partly attributable to declining memory for future simulations over time. This work broadens our understanding of the functional consequences of age-related declines in episodic future simulation and adds to previous work showing reduced benefits of simulation with age on tasks tapping adaptive functions.

Age-Related Differences in Motivational Integration and Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Sarah L Adams ◽  
Asad Beck ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Monetary Reward ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cognitive Task Performance

Motivational incentives play an influential role in value-based decision-making and cognitive control. A compelling hypothesis in the literature suggests that the brain integrates the motivational value of diverse incentives (e.g., motivational integration) into a common currency value signal that influences decision-making and behavior. To investigate whether motivational integration processes change during healthy aging, we tested older (N=44) and younger (N=54) adults in an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance. The results reveal that motivational incentives improve cognitive task performance in both older and younger adults, providing novel evidence demonstrating that age-related cognitive control deficits can be ameliorated with sufficient incentive motivation. Additional analyses revealed clear age-related differences in motivational integration. Younger adult task performance was modulated by both monetary and liquid incentives, whereas monetary reward effects were more gradual in older adults and more strongly impacted by trial-by-trial performance feedback. A surprising discovery was that older adults shifted attention from liquid valence toward monetary reward throughout task performance, but younger adults shifted attention from monetary reward toward integrating both monetary reward and liquid valence by the end of the task, suggesting differential strategic utilization of incentives. Together these data suggest that older adults may have impairments in incentive integration, and employ different motivational strategies to improve cognitive task performance. The findings suggest potential candidate neural mechanisms that may serve as the locus of age-related change, providing targets for future cognitive neuroscience investigations.

Sources of cognitive conflict and their relevance to Theory of Mind proficiency in healthy ageing. A preregistered study.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foyzul Rahman ◽  
Sabrina Javed ◽  
Ian Apperly ◽  
Peter Hansen ◽  
Carol Holland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outcome Knowledge

Age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about others’ mental states. We assessed how older (OA; n=50) versus younger adults (YA; n=50) were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing Self-Other perspectives; competing cued locations and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when representing a belief incongruent with one’s own. Individual differences in attention and motor response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through conflicting Self-Other perspectives. However, OAs were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated OA’s ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

Internet Navigation Skills for Financial Management: Associations with Age, Neurocognitive Performance, and Functional Capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samina Rahman ◽  
Victoria Kordovski ◽  
Savanna Tierney ◽  
Steven Paul Woods
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Internet Banking ◽  
Online Banking ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Use Factors

Objective: Online banking is becoming increasingly common among older adults, whomay experience difficulties effectively navigating this instrumental technology. Thisstudy examined age effects on a performance-based Internet banking task and itsassociation with neurocognitive ability and functional capacity in older and youngeradults. Method: Thirty-five older adults and 50 younger adults completed anexperimenter-controlled online banking measure in which they independentlyperformed a series of naturalistic financial tasks (e.g., account transfers, bill paying).Participants also completed a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests andmeasures of functional capacity. Results: Older adults were markedly slower and lessaccurate in completing the Internet-based banking task, which was not confounded byother demographic, mood, or computer use factors. Higher scores on measures ofneurocognition and financial functional capacity were both strongly associated withhigher Internet-based banking task accuracy scores and quicker completion times inthe older, but not the younger adults. Conclusions: Findings suggest that older adultsexperience difficultly quickly and accurately navigating online banking platforms, whichmay be partly related to age-related declines in neurocognitive functions and basicfinancial capacity. Future studies might examine whether neurocognitive approaches toremediation and compensation can be used to improve online banking capacity inolder adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document