The inhibition deficit hypothesis (IDH) proposed that individual differences in inhibitory control is an underlying reason for age-related language decline. This study examined whether the hypothesis holds within the domain of lexico-semantic retrieval. Sixty-six older adults aged 60–79 were tested in a semantic fluency task comprising 16 categories; each response was classified as automatic or controlled. Also, Stroop color and word test and an ERP flanker task were employed to yield both behavioral and neural measures of inhibitory control. Mixed-effects modelling revealed that the number of controlled (but not automatic) responses was negatively associated with age. This interaction could be partially accounted for by the behavioral Stroop inhibition score and two neural measures from the ERP flanker task (P2 and Pc amplitudes). These results not only provide converging evidence supporting the IDH, but also demonstrate the involvement of specific inhibitory control components, including attentional control and performance monitoring.

抑制缺陷假说（IDH）提出抑制控制的个体差异是与年龄相关的语言衰退的根本原因。这项研究检验了该假设是否在词汇语义检索领域内成立。66 名 60-79 岁的老年人在一项语义流畅性任务中进行了测试，该任务包括 16 个类别；每个响应都被归类为自动响应或受控响应。此外，Stroop 颜色和文字测试以及 ERP 侧翼任务被用来产生抑制控制的行为和神经测量。混合效应模型显示，受控（但不是自动）反应的数量与年龄呈负相关。这种相互作用可以部分归因于行为 Stroop 抑制评分和来自 ERP 侧翼任务的两个神经测量（P2 和 Pc 幅度）。