Visuo-spatial attention in younger and older adults: comparing performance on a series of computer-based tasks

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of aging on visual attention across four computer-based tasks.

A cross-sectional observational approach was utilised in this study. A battery of four computer-based tasks, with previously demonstrated sensitivity in detecting spatial bias, were employed to assess visual-attention between young and older adults. The duration of each task was approximately 5 min. Performance measures across all tasks included response time (ms) and accuracy (%) data.

125 participants, 51 younger (aged between 18 and 30) and 74 older adults (aged between 65 and 90) took part. Older adults had significantly slower response times compared to younger adults across all tasks, but accuracy was largely comparable. However, in the feature visual search task, older adults demonstrated superior accuracy, especially on the right side of space. More generally, results highlight the presence of a more pronounced leftward bias in the younger group, indicative of the previously described pseudo-neglect phenomenon. Increasing task demands, for example, by adding a dynamic component or introducing more complex or a larger number of distractors, had a greater impact on older adults' performance.

The study provides valuable insights regarding the effect of age on visual attention and demonstrates the high sensitivity and feasibility of using simple computer-based assessments to identify these in unimpaired populations. Data presented here provide a basis for future studies using the same tasks with clinical populations.