Age-dependent impairment of auditory processing under spatially focused and divided attention: an electrophysiological study.
By using event-related potentials (ERPs) the present study examines if age-related differences in preparation and processing especially emerge during divided attention. Binaurally presented auditory cues called for focused (valid and invalid) or divided attention to one or both ears. Responses were required to subsequent monaurally presented valid targets (vowels), but had to be suppressed to non-target vowels or invalidly cued vowels. Middle-aged participants were more impaired under divided attention than young ones, likely due to an age-related decline in preparatory attention following cues as was reflected in a decreased CNV. Under divided attention, target processing was increased in the middle-aged, likely reflecting compensatory effort to fulfill task requirements in the difficult condition. Additionally, middle-aged participants processed invalidly cued stimuli more intensely as was reflected by stimulus ERPs. The results suggest an age-related impairment in attentional preparation after auditory cues especially under divided attention and latent difficulties to suppress irrelevant information.
Leibniz Research Center for Working Environment and Human Factors, WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational Health and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund, Germany. nele@wild-wall.de
Nele
N
Wild-Wall
Michael
M
Falkenstein
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult