title: Similar behaviour, different brain patterns: age-related changes in neural signatures of ignoring.
abstract: We measured behavioural performance and fMRI activity whilst old and young adults performed a temporal segmentation task ('preview search'). Being able to select parts of the visual world to be attended or ignored is a critical visual skill. Both old and young adults were able to improve their performance on a difficult search task when some of the distracter items were presented earlier than the remainder. Comparisons of brain activity and functional connectivity, however, suggested that the underlying mechanisms are quite different for the two age groups. Older adults' activation patterns do not correspond to those predicted by simple increased involvement of frontal regions reflecting higher demand with age but seem to suggest that changes in brain activation patterns propagate throughout the cortex.
authors: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. H.A.Allen@nottingham.ac.uk
authors: Harriet A
authors: HA
authors: Allen
authors: Helen
authors: H
authors: Payne
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult