Executive functions in normal aging: an examination of script sequencing, script sorting, and script monitoring.
We explored the effect of age on executive functions by using script-sequencing and script-sorting tasks. Older participants (n = 39), relative to young subjects (n = 40), committed more errors in script sequencing. However, there was no difference in performance between elderly and young subjects in excluding irrelevant items. These results suggest that aging generates impairment in the ability to produce temporally coherent sequences without deficit in the ability to eliminate distractors in the action domain. We proposed that the sequencing difficulties in elderly participants could be due to working-memory and shifting deficits mediated by changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Allain
Philippe
P
Laboratory of Psychology, University of Angers, France. PhAllain@chu-angers.fr
Berrut
Gilles
G
Etcharry-Bouyx
Frédérique
F
Barré
Jean
J
Dubas
Frédéric
F
Le Gall
Didier
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000502:physiology