Age-related differences in resolving semantic and phonological competition during receptive language tasks

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Receptive language, particularly semantic processing, remains robust in aging.
• Semantic processes may even develop throughout adulthood.
• Understanding age-related changes in language retrieval is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate neural mechanisms of phonological and semantic retrieval in older and younger adults.
• Examine the impact of competition on language retrieval by manipulating stimulus similarity.
• Explore age-related differences in brain activation during receptive language tasks.

Main Methods:

• Participants completed rhyme and semantic similarity judgment tasks.
• Behavioral data (response time, accuracy) were collected.
• Neuroimaging (fMRI) data were acquired to examine brain activity.

Main Results:

• All participants performed better on rhyme tasks than semantic tasks.
• Older adults showed higher accuracy on semantic tasks compared to younger adults.
• An Age×Task interaction in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) showed greater activation in older adults during semantic tasks.

Conclusions:

• Neural networks supporting language comprehension are largely preserved with age.
• Increased task difficulty in semantic processing engages additional cognitive resources in older adults.
• Semantic representations remain stable, supporting language comprehension across the lifespan.