Functional modular architecture underlying attentional control in aging.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Human Aging

Background:

• Age-related attention differences involve top-down and bottom-up processes.
• Cognitive and neural mechanisms of attentional interaction are under active investigation.
• Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for addressing age-related cognitive changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate behavioral components and neural networks of attention in adults aged 19-78.
• Examine how bottom-up (size singleton effect) and top-down (target detection effect) attentional processes are modulated by age.
• Elucidate the role of frontoparietal networks in attentional control across the adult lifespan.

Main Methods:

• Employed diffusion reaction time (RT) modeling for behavioral analysis.
• Utilized multivariate functional connectivity and functional MRI during a conjunction visual search task.
• Analyzed a size singleton effect and a target detection effect to isolate attentional processes.

Main Results:

• The size singleton effect, related to bottom-up guidance, impacted decision and nondecision RT components but did not vary with age.
• Frontoparietal module connectivity was crucial for both size singleton and target detection effects, engaging through distinct mechanisms.
• Older adults (≥42 years) showed increased reliance on between-frontoparietal module connections for the target detection effect.

Conclusions:

• Frontoparietal regions play a key role in attentional control.
• Age-related differences in attention are associated with distinct recruitment strategies within frontoparietal networks.
• These findings offer insights into how attentional control mechanisms adapt across adulthood.