ABSTRACT

Conflict processing and interference control have been popular topics of research in the study of pathological brain aging. However, there remains much to be learned about how these cognitive processes are altered in the course of healthy brain aging. Moreover, few studies have combined multiple measures of interference control using factorial designs. The aim of this study was to determine the nature of age-related changes in behavioral and electroencephalographic correlates of interference control using a factorial combination of the Simon and flanker interference conditions. Data were collected from a group of younger and high-functioning older adults. Behavioral results indicated the presence of conflict interference effects in both groups, that both Simon and flanker conflict effects are increased in high-functioning older adults, that the two types of conflict interference interact superadditively, and that older adults are more susceptible to the superadditive costs of multiple conflict types. ERP analyses revealed that early perceptual and response-selection processes are differentially modulated by flanker and Simon conflict respectively, however, there was no evidence that these early processes were impaired in older adults. Later components of the ERP in the P3 time range mirrored behavioral results, reflecting the increased susceptibility to flanker and Simon conflict in older adults.

摘要

冲突处理和干扰控制一直是病理性脑衰老研究的热门研究课题。然而，关于这些认知过程如何在健康的大脑衰老过程中发生改变，还有很多需要了解。此外，很少有研究使用因子设计结合多种干扰控制措施。本研究的目的是使用西蒙和侧翼干扰条件的阶乘组合来确定干扰控制的行为和脑电图相关性的年龄相关变化的性质。数据是从一组年轻和高功能的老年人那里收集的。行为结果表明两组都存在冲突干扰效应，西蒙和侧翼冲突效应在高功能老年人中都有所增加，这两种冲突干扰是超加性相互作用的，老年人更容易受到多种冲突类型的超加性成本的影响。ERP 分析显示，早期知觉和反应选择过程分别受到侧翼和西蒙冲突的不同调节，但是，没有证据表明这些早期过程在老年人中受损。P3 时间范围内 ERP 的后期组成部分反映了行为结果，反映了老年人对侧翼和西蒙冲突的敏感性增加。ERP 分析显示，早期知觉和反应选择过程分别受到侧翼和西蒙冲突的不同调节，但是，没有证据表明这些早期过程在老年人中受损。P3 时间范围内 ERP 的后期组成部分反映了行为结果，反映了老年人对侧翼和西蒙冲突的敏感性增加。ERP 分析显示，早期感知和反应选择过程分别受到侧翼和西蒙冲突的不同调节，但是，没有证据表明这些早期过程在老年人中受损。P3 时间范围内 ERP 的后期组成部分反映了行为结果，反映了老年人对侧翼和西蒙冲突的敏感性增加。