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Smith P, Ulrich R. The neutral condition in conflict tasks: On the violation of the midpoint assumption in reaction time trends. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:1023-1043. [PMID: 37674259 PMCID: PMC11032635 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231201476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Although the relation between congruent and incongruent conditions in conflict tasks has been the primary focus of cognitive control studies, the neutral condition is often set as a baseline directly between the two conditions. However, empirical evidence suggests that the average neutral reaction time (RT) is not placed evenly between the two opposing conditions. This article set out to establish two things: First, to reinforce the informative nature of the neutral condition and second, to highlight how it can be useful for modelling. We explored how RT in the neutral condition of conflict tasks (Stroop, Flanker, and Simon Tasks) deviated from the predictions of current diffusion models. Current diffusion models of conflict tasks predict a neutral RT that is the average of the congruent and incongruent RT, called the midpoint assumption. To investigate this, we first conducted a cursory limited search that recorded the average RT's of conflict tasks with neutral conditions. Upon finding evidence of a midpoint assumption violation which showed a larger disparity between average neutral and incongruent RT, we tested the previously mentioned conflict tasks with two different sets of stimuli to establish the robustness of the effect. The midpoint assumption violation is sometimes inconsistent with the prediction of diffusion models of conflict processing (e.g., the Diffusion Model of Conflict), suggesting possible elaborations of such models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parker Smith
- Fachbereich Psychologie, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Rolf Ulrich
- Fachbereich Psychologie, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Hsieh S, Chen EH. Specific but not general declines in attention and executive function with aging: Converging cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence across the adult lifespan. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1108725. [PMID: 37008838 PMCID: PMC10050892 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1108725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
ObjectiveAttention and executive function (EF) are vulnerable to aging. However, whether all these functions generally decline with aging is not known. Furthermore, most evidence is based on cross-sectional data and fewer follow-up data are available in the literature. Longitudinal follow-up studies are necessary to characterize individualized and precise changes in cognitive function. Additionally, relatively few aging studies have included middle-aged adults to examine age-related differences in attention and EF. Therefore, this study aims to examine whether general or specific attention and EF decline with aging from adulthood to old age by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal follow-up approaches.MethodsThis study recruited 253 participants aged 20 to 78 years. passing a prescreening procedure (see main text for detail) for the baseline session, and 123 of them were invited to return 1 ~ 2 years after their first visit to participate in the follow-up session. The participants completed a series of attention and EF tasks at both the baseline and follow-up sessions, which measured alerting, orienting, conflict control, stopping, memory updating, and switching abilities. We applied linear and nonlinear regression models to evaluate the cross-sectional age effect on attention and EF and employed a modified Brinley plot to inspect follow-up performance against baseline in attention and EF.ResultsThe results of cross-sectional data showed that older adults exhibited decreased efficiency in alerting, stopping, and memory updating but paradoxically increased efficiency in conflict control and switching abilities and no changes in orienting efficiency with age. However, the results of longitudinal data showed that only alerting and memory updating continued to show decreased efficiency. Furthermore, conflict control and switching showed increased efficiency with aging, whereas the orienting network, and stopping no longer showed decreased efficiency.ConclusionThus, converging the cross-sectional and longitudinal data showed that the alerting and memory updating function exhibited the most robust deficit with age (cross-sectional) and aging (longitudinal). Alerting and memory updating abilities are crucial survival skills for human beings. Therefore, developing methods to prevent and improve an individual’s alertness and working memory ability is an important practical issue in aging research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulan Hsieh
- Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory: Control, Aging, Sleep, and Emotion (CASE), Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Shulan Hsieh,
| | - En-Ho Chen
- Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory: Control, Aging, Sleep, and Emotion (CASE), Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
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Rabi R, Chow R, Paracha S, Hasher L, Gardner S, Anderson ND, Alain C. The Effects of Aging and Time of Day on Inhibitory Control: An Event-Related Potential Study. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:821043. [PMID: 35360220 PMCID: PMC8963784 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.821043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Time of day (TOD) influences on executive functions have been widely reported, with greater efficiency demonstrated at optimal relative to non-optimal TOD according to one's chronotype (i.e., synchrony effect). Older adults (OAs) show declines in inhibitory control and are more sensitive to the effects of circadian variation on executive functioning. To date, no studies have investigated the effects of TOD and aging on executive functioning using electrophysiological measures. The present study investigated the effects of aging and TOD on the neural correlates of inhibitory processing (N2 and P3) using event-related potentials (ERPs). Go-NoGo and Flanker tasks were administered to 52 OAs of morning chronotype and 51 younger adults (YAs) of afternoon-to-evening chronotype who were randomly assigned to morning or afternoon test sessions, with the optimal TOD for OAs in the morning and for YAs in the afternoon/evening. While behavioral results demonstrated no TOD effects, ERPs indicated synchrony effects. Both YAs and OAs showed greater modulation of Go-NoGo N2 and greater P3 amplitude during the non-optimal than optimal TOD, consistent with the synchrony effect. For the Flanker task, age differences in P3 amplitude were only apparent during the non-optimal TOD. These results suggest that processes associated with inhibitory control are differentially affected by TOD and aging, with age-related reductions in inhibitory efficiency during off-peak test times on measures of interference control. These findings highlight the sensitivity of ERPs to detect TOD effects in the absence of behavioral differences, confirm more pronounced TOD effects in OAs relative to YAs on ERP measures of interference control, and reinforce the need to assess and control for circadian typology in research studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahel Rabi
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ricky Chow
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Shahier Paracha
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Lynn Hasher
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sandra Gardner
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Biostatistics Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Nicole D. Anderson
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Claude Alain
- Baycrest Centre, Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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4
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Cloutier A, Fernandez NB, Houde-Archambault C, Gosselin N. Effect of Background Music on Attentional Control in Older and Young Adults. Front Psychol 2020; 11:557225. [PMID: 33192813 PMCID: PMC7606979 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.557225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Healthy aging may be accompanied by cognitive decline that includes diminished attentional control, an executive function that allows us to focus our attention while inhibiting distractors. Previous studies have demonstrated that background music can enhance some executive functions in both young and older adults. According to the Arousal-Mood Theory, the beneficial influence of background music on cognitive performance would be related to its ability to increase the arousal level of the listeners and to improve their mood. Consequently, stimulating and pleasant music might enhance attentional control. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to determine if the influence of background music, and more specifically its arousal level, might improve attentional control in older adults and (2) whether this effect is similar across older and young adults. Older and young adults performed a visuo-spatial flanker task during three auditory conditions: stimulating music, relaxing music, and silence. Participants had to indicate as fast and as accurately as possible the direction of a central arrow, which was flanked by congruent or incongruent arrows. As expected, reaction times were slower for the incongruent compared to congruent trials. Interestingly, this difference was significantly greater under the relaxing music condition compared to other auditory conditions. This effect was the same across both age groups. In conclusion, relaxing music seems to interfere with visuo-spatial attentional control compared to stimulating music and silence, regardless of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Cloutier
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Natalia B. Fernandez
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition (LabNIC) and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA), Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CANEURO), Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Catherine Houde-Archambault
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nathalie Gosselin
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Hsieh S, Yu YT, Chen EH, Yang CT, Wang CH. ERP correlates of a flanker task with varying levels of analytic-holistic cognitive style. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.109673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Response-level processing during visual feature search: Effects of frontoparietal activation and adult age. Atten Percept Psychophys 2019; 82:330-349. [PMID: 31376024 PMCID: PMC6995405 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01823-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Previous research suggests that feature search performance is relatively resistant to age-related decline. However, little is known regarding the neural mechanisms underlying the age-related constancy of feature search. In this experiment, we used a diffusion decision model of reaction time (RT), and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate age-related differences in response-level processing during visual feature search. Participants were 80 healthy, right-handed, community-dwelling individuals, 19–79 years of age. Analyses of search performance indicated that targets accompanied by response-incompatible distractors were associated with a significant increase in the nondecision-time (t0) model parameter, possibly reflecting the additional time required for response execution. Nondecision time increased significantly with increasing age, but no age-related effects were evident in drift rate, cautiousness (boundary separation, a), or in the specific effects of response compatibility. Nondecision time was also associated with a pattern of activation and deactivation in frontoparietal regions. The relation of age to nondecision time was indirect, mediated by this pattern of frontoparietal activation and deactivation. Response-compatible and -incompatible trials were associated with specific patterns of activation in the medial and superior parietal cortex, and frontal eye field, but these activation effects did not mediate the relation between age and search performance. These findings suggest that, in the context of a highly efficient feature search task, the age-related influence of frontoparietal activation is operative at a relatively general level, which is common to the task conditions, rather than at the response level specifically.
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Reuter EM, Vieluf S, Koutsandreou F, Hübner L, Budde H, Godde B, Voelcker-Rehage C. A Non-linear Relationship Between Selective Attention and Associated ERP Markers Across the Lifespan. Front Psychol 2019; 10:30. [PMID: 30745886 PMCID: PMC6360996 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to selectively attend to task-relevant information increases throughout childhood and decreases in older age. Here, we intended to investigate these opposing developmental trajectories, to assess whether gains and losses early and late in life are associated with similar or different electrophysiological changes, and to get a better understanding about the development in middle-adulthood. We (re-)analyzed behavioral and electrophysiological data of 211 participants, who performed a colored Flanker task while their Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Participants were subdivided into six groups depending on their age, ranging from 8 to 83 years. We analyzed response speed and accuracy as well as the event replated potential (ERP) components P1 and N1, associated with visual processing and attention, N2 as marker of interference suppression and cognitive control, and P3 as a marker of cognitive updating and stimulus categorization. Response speed and accuracy were low early and later in life, with peak performance in young adults. Similarly, ERP latencies of all components and P1 and N1 amplitudes followed a u-shape pattern with shortest latencies and smallest amplitudes occurring in middle-age. N2 amplitudes were larger in children, and for incongruent stimuli in adults middle-aged and older. P3 amplitudes showed a parietal-to-frontal shift with age. Further, group-wise regression analyses suggested that children’s performance depended on cognitive processing speed, while older adults’ performance depended on cognitive resources. Together these results imply that different mechanisms restrict performance early and late in life and suggest a non-linear relationship between electrophysiological markers and performance in the Flanker task across the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva-Maria Reuter
- Centre for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Solveig Vieluf
- Institute of Sports Medicine, Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany
| | | | - Lena Hübner
- Institute of Human Movement Science and Health, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Henning Budde
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.,Physical Activity, Physical Education, Health and Sport Research Centre, Sports Science Department, School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland.,Institute of Sport Science and Innovations, Lithuanian Sports University, Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Ben Godde
- Department of Psychology and Methods, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany
| | - Claudia Voelcker-Rehage
- Institute of Human Movement Science and Health, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany
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Wang CH, Yang CT, Moreau D, Muggleton NG. Motor expertise modulates neural oscillations and temporal dynamics of cognitive control. Neuroimage 2017; 158:260-270. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2017] [Revised: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
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Lee HH, Hsieh S. Resting-State fMRI Associated with Stop-Signal Task Performance in Healthy Middle-Aged and Elderly People. Front Psychol 2017; 8:766. [PMID: 28553253 PMCID: PMC5427072 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 04/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Several brain regions and connectivity networks may be altered as aging occurs. We are interested in investigating if resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) can also be valid as an indicator of individual differences in association with inhibition performance among aged (including middle-aged) people. Seventy-two healthy adults (40–77 years of age) were recruited. Their RS-fMRI images were acquired and analyzed via two cluster-analysis methods: local synchronization of spontaneous brain activity measured by regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) of blood oxygenation level-dependent signals. After the RS-fMRI acquisition, participants were instructed to perform a stop-signal task, in which the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) was calculated based on the horse-race model. Among participants, the ReHo/fALFF and SSRT were correlated with and without partialling-out the effect of age. The results of this study showed that, although aging may alter brain networks, the spontaneous activity of the age-related brain networks can still serve as an effective indicator of individual differences in association with inhibitory performance in healthy middle-aged and elderly people. This is the first study to use both ReHo and fALFF on the same dataset for conjunction analyses showing the relationship between stopping performance and RS-fMRI in the elderly population. The relationship may have practical clinical applications. Based on the overall results, the current study demonstrated that the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and parts of the default mode network activation were negatively correlated with SSRT, suggesting that they have crucial roles in inhibitory function. However, the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and SMA played only a small role during the resting state in association with stopping performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsing-Hao Lee
- Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan
| | - Shulan Hsieh
- Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan.,Institue of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan.,Department and Institute of Public Health, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan
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Inhibiting prepotent responses in the elderly: Distraction and disinhibition. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2016; 16:124-34. [PMID: 26369924 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-015-0378-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we aimed to examine whether older adults, relative to younger adults, suffer from generic inhibition, selective inhibition, and/or distraction deficits, as assessed by behavioral and electrophysiological measures in a go/no-go task paradigm that included manipulations of no-go stimulus type (irrelevant vs. conflict) and no-go probability. A total of 96 individuals were recruited; each of three experiments included 32 participants (16 adults above and 16 adults below 60 years of age). The older adults performed more poorly than the younger adults in our behavioral test; however, the event-related potential results showed that irrelevant and conflict no-go stimuli incurred different processes that were differentially impacted by aging, as was reflected in the N2 and P3. That is, the older adults' inhibition deficits might be due to different underlying mechanisms: disproportionate processing of irrelevant no-go stimuli, and disproportionate suppression of conflicting information when executing or withholding a response to conflict no-go stimuli. The present results therefore support the theories of age-related selective inhibition and distraction deficits.
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Stopping ability in younger and older adults: Behavioral and event-related potential. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2016; 17:348-363. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-016-0483-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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12
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Korsch M, Frühholz S, Herrmann M. Conflict-Specific Aging Effects Mainly Manifest in Early Information Processing Stages-An ERP Study with Different Conflict Types. Front Aging Neurosci 2016; 8:53. [PMID: 27014059 PMCID: PMC4792879 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2015] [Accepted: 02/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Aging is usually accompanied by alterations of cognitive control functions such as conflict processing. Recent research suggests that aging effects on cognitive control seem to vary with degree and source of conflict, and conflict specific aging effects on performance measures as well as neural activation patterns have been shown. However, there is sparse information whether and how aging affects different stages of conflict processing as indicated by event related potentials (ERPs) such as the P2, N2 and P3 components. In the present study, 19 young and 23 elderly adults performed a combined Flanker conflict and stimulus-response-conflict (SRC) task. Analysis of the reaction times (RTs) revealed an increased SRC related conflict effect in elderly. ERP analysis furthermore demonstrated an age-related increase of the P2 amplitude in response to the SRC task. In addition, elderly adults exhibited an increased P3 amplitude modulation induced by incongruent SRC and Flanker conflict trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margarethe Korsch
- Department of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Bremen UniversityHochschulring, Bremen, Germany; Center for Cognitive Sciences (ZKW), Bremen UniversityHochschulring, Bremen, Germany
| | - Sascha Frühholz
- Department of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Bremen UniversityHochschulring, Bremen, Germany; Department of Psychology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
| | - Manfred Herrmann
- Department of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Bremen UniversityHochschulring, Bremen, Germany; Center for Cognitive Sciences (ZKW), Bremen UniversityHochschulring, Bremen, Germany
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Hsieh S, Wu M, Tang CH. Adaptive Strategies for the Elderly in Inhibiting Irrelevant and Conflict No-Go Trials while Performing the Go/No-Go Task. Front Aging Neurosci 2016; 7:243. [PMID: 26779012 PMCID: PMC4701916 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2015.00243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2015] [Accepted: 12/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to differentiate whether or not older adults are more prone to distraction or conflict, as induced by irrelevant and conflict no-go stimuli (irNOGO and cfNOGO), respectively. This study also aimed to determine whether or not older adults would devote more effort to withholding a no-go trial in the higher-control demand condition (20% no-go trials' probability) as compared to the lower-control demand condition (50 and 80% no-go trials' probability). A total of 96 individuals were recruited, and each of the three no-go trials' probability conditions included 32 participants (16 younger adults and 16 older adults). Both behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) data were measured. The behavioral results showed that the older adults performed more poorly than the younger adults for the go trials, as reflected by slower reaction times (RTs) and higher numbers of omission errors in the go trials. In contrast, in the no-go trials, the older adults counter-intuitively exhibited similar behavioral performance (i.e., equivalent commission errors) as compared to the younger adults. The ERP data further showed that the older adults (but not the younger adults) exhibited larger P3 peak amplitudes for the irNOGO than cfNOGO trials. Yet, on the other hand, the older adults performed more poorly (i.e., had more commission errors) in the cfNOGO than irNOGO trials. These results seem to suggest that the older adults recruited more control processes in order to conquer the commitment of responses in the no-go trials, especially in the irNOGO trials. This age-related compensatory response of recruiting more control processes was specifically seen in the 20% no-go trial probability condition. This study therefore provides a deeper understanding into how older adults adopt strategies for performing the go/no-go task such as devoting more control processes to inhibiting the irNOGO trials compared to the cfNOGO trials in order to cope with their deficient inhibition ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shulan Hsieh
- Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory: Control, Aging, Sleep, and Emotion (CASE), Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan; Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan
| | - Mengyao Wu
- Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory: Control, Aging, Sleep, and Emotion (CASE), Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung UniversityTainan, Taiwan; Department of Occupational Therapy, Shu-Zen Junior College of Medicine and ManagementKaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Chien-Hui Tang
- Cognitive Electrophysiology Laboratory: Control, Aging, Sleep, and Emotion (CASE), Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan
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