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Cognitive declines in healthy aging: evidence from multiple aspects of interference resolution
Corinne Pettigrew1, Randi C Martin2
1Division of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Psychology and Aging
|June 24, 2014
Summary
Older adults experience age-related declines in interference resolution, impacting both proactive interference resistance and response inhibition. These cognitive deficits may stem from a common underlying cause, independent of working memory or processing speed.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
Background:
- Executive functions, including interference resolution (inhibitory control), are crucial for cognitive performance.
- Interference resolution is increasingly viewed as comprising multiple distinct constructs, such as resistance to proactive interference and response-distractor inhibition.
- Understanding age-related changes in these specific constructs is vital for comprehending cognitive aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related deficits in interference resolution among older adults compared to younger adults.
- To examine whether age affects resistance to proactive interference and response-distractor inhibition distinctly or commonly.
- To determine if age-related declines in interference resolution are associated with working memory or processing speed.
Main Methods:
- Employed multiple tasks to assess resistance to proactive interference and response-distractor inhibition in older and younger adults.
- Analyzed age effects at both the individual task level and through latent variable modeling.
- Utilized statistical modeling to explore the common variance between interference resolution constructs and their relationship with other cognitive functions.
Main Results:
- Older adults consistently showed greater interference effects in tasks measuring resistance to proactive interference.
- While less consistent at the task level, age effects were observed in response-distractor inhibition tasks and latent variable analyses.
- Latent variable modeling indicated that age-related declines in the measured interference resolution constructs likely share a common origin.
- Age-related interference resolution deficits were distinct from working memory declines and independent of processing speed.
Conclusions:
- Older adults exhibit age-related impairments in interference resolution, particularly in resisting proactive interference.
- Age-related declines in interference resolution constructs appear to originate from a shared underlying factor.
- Interference resolution is a cognitive domain sensitive to aging, with its decline being independent of working memory and processing speed limitations.
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