title: Predictive cues and age-related declines in working memory performance.
abstract: Older adults, compared to younger adults, do not benefit from predictive information regarding either what type of stimuli they will see or when to expect them, yet it is unclear whether older adults benefit when given both types of predictive information. Here, electroencephalogram recordings of older (aged 62-87 years) and younger (aged 20-32 years) adults were recorded during a working memory task. Each trial contained 2 faces and 2 scenes presented sequentially, followed by a 5-second delay and a probe stimulus. Participants were told what stimuli to remember/ignore and when they would appear. Predictive cues enabled older adults to remember stimuli as accurately as younger adults, although response times were significantly slower, even when corrected for general age-related slowing. Previously observed reductions in P1/N1 amplitude and latency suppression to irrelevant stimuli were not seen. Rather, older adults exhibited lowered P3 amplitudes to relevant stimuli; those with the greatest declines yielded the lowest accuracy and slowest response times. This shows that predictive information can help maintain accuracy, although not response times, which correspond to age-related declines in neural enhancement to relevant stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Namita A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Padgaonkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: theodore.zanto@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Theodore P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Zanto
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bollinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Departments of Physiology & Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gazzaley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; EEG; Enhancement deficit; P3 amplitude; Predictive information; Working memory