title: Neural correlates of age-related decline and compensation in visual attention capacity.
abstract: We identified neural correlates of declined and preserved basic visual attention functions in aging individuals based on Bundesen "Theory of Visual Attention". In an interindividual difference approach, we contrasted electrophysiology of higher- and lower-performing younger and older participants. In both age groups, the same distinct components indexed performance levels of parameters visual processing speed C and visual short-term memory storage capacity K. The posterior N1 marked interindividual differences in C and the contralateral delay activity marked interindividual differences in K. Moreover, both parameters were selectively related to 2 further event-related potential waves in older age. The anterior N1 was reduced for older participants with lower processing speed, indicating that age-related loss of attentional resources slows encoding. An enhanced right-central positivity was found only for older participants with high storage capacity, suggesting compensatory recruitment for retaining visual short-term memory performance. Together, our results demonstrate that attentional capacity in older age depends on both preservation and successful reorganization of the underlying brain circuits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; Center for Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: iris.wiegand@psy.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Töllner
authors.affiliation: Center for Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dyrholm
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany; School of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Hermann J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Center for Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bundesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Finke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Aging; Compensation; Contralateral delay activity (CDA); Event-related potentials (ERP); Individual differences; N1; Processing speed; Theory of visual attention; Visual-short term memory (vSTM)