Cardiac workload and inhibitory control in younger and older adults

Our goal was to investigate age differences in the role played by cardiovascular regulation in response control. We questioned whether pre-test respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; an index of phasic vagal cardiac control) and/or rate pressure product (RPP; a measure of cardiac workload) were associated with error rate and/or error-related electrocortical responses (ERPs) during a Go/NoGo inhibitory control task across three levels of working memory load. ERPs, RSA and RPP were indirectly associated with performance in young adults. Within the older group, higher resting RPP was directly associated with NoGo errors at all levels of load, an association not seen in the younger group. Thus, for older adults, excessive hemodynamic demands at rest were more relevant than on-task electrocortical responses in the prediction of inhibitory control errors. These data support the relevance of autonomic regulation in understanding age-related change in higher-order neurocognitive function.