Aging impairs primary task resumption and attentional control processes following interruptions

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroscience of Aging

Background:

• Working memory relies on attentional selection to maintain relevant information.
• Interruptions disrupt attentional selection, impacting task performance.
• Age-related differences in cognitive control and working memory are well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural mechanisms of attentional selection in working memory.
• To examine age-related differences in task resumption following interruptions.
• To explore how interruption difficulty modulates attentional selection in younger and older adults.

Main Methods:

• Participants (younger and older adults) performed a working memory task with interspersed low- or high-demand arithmetic interruptions.
• A retrospective cue indicated the target working memory content.
• Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to analyze neural correlates, including frontal-posterior theta connectivity and posterior alpha/beta power.

Main Results:

• Both age groups showed performance deficits after interruptions.
• Younger adults were more affected by high-demand interruptions, while older adults' performance decreased regardless of interruption difficulty.
• Older adults exhibited diminished posterior alpha/beta power post-interruption, suggesting impaired attentional selection and maintenance.

Conclusions:

• Aging leads to a deficit in attentional selection and maintenance of working memory content after interruptions.
• This age-related deficit appears independent of the cognitive demands of the interrupting task.
• Neural findings suggest reduced ability to selectively maintain information in older adults due to aging.