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Multistable perception elicits compensatory alpha activity in older adults
Kurtuluş Mert Küçük1, Annika S Wienke2, Birgit Mathes2
1Department of Psychology, Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
|June 12, 2023
Summary
Older adults exhibit slower perceptual reversals due to altered alpha brain activity. This suggests compensatory neural networks are recruited to maintain perception as we age.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Aging Research
Background:
- Multistable stimuli create alternating perceptions, enabling study of endogenous perceptual processes.
- Endogenous perceptual processes slow with age, evidenced by reduced perceptual reversals around age 55.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify neural correlates of age-related slowing in multistable perception.
- To examine age differences in perceptual destabilization and maintenance using alpha responses.
Main Methods:
- Electroencephalography (EEG) recorded from 12 older and 12 young adults during a stroboscopic alternative motion (SAM) task and a control task.
- Alpha band activity (8-14 Hz) analyzed using wavelet transformation to assess neural responses.
- Comparison of alpha activity patterns between age groups during endogenous and exogenous perceptual tasks.
Main Results:
- Young adults showed decreased posterior alpha activity during endogenous reversals, consistent with prior research.
- Older adults displayed alpha desynchronization shifted to anterior cortical areas, excluding the occipital region.
- No significant age differences in alpha responses were observed during the control (exogenous) condition.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest older adults recruit compensatory alpha networks to maintain endogenous percepts.
- Expanded neural network recruitment may prolong neural satiation, leading to decreased reversal rates in older individuals.
- Age-related changes in alpha network dynamics impact endogenous perceptual stability.
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