Auditory spatial attention capture, disengagement, and response selection in normal aging.

ABSTRACT: Attention control is a core element of cognitive aging, but the specific mechanisms that differ with age are unclear. Here we used a novel auditory spatial attention task to evaluate stimulus processing at the level of early attention capture, later response selection, and the lingering effects of attention capture across trials in young and older adults. We found that the shapes of spatial attention capture gradients were remarkably similar in young and older adults, but only the older group had lingering effects of attention capture on the next trial. Response selection for stimulus-response incompatibilities took longer in older subjects, but primarily when attending to the midline location. The results suggest that the likelihood and spatial tuning of attention capture is comparable am

SUBMITTER: Golob EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6384152 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature