Lacking Pace but Not Precision: Age-Related Information Processing Changes in Response to a Dynamic Attentional Control Task

Abstract

Age-related decline in information processing can have a substantial impact on activities such as driving. However, the assessment of these changes is often carried out using cognitive tasks that do not adequately represent the dynamic process of updating environmental stimuli. Equally, traditional tests are often static in their approach to task complexity, and do not assess difficulty within the bounds of an individual’s capability. To address these limitations, we used a more ecologically valid measure, the Swansea Test of Attentional Control (STAC), in which a threshold for information processing speed is established at a given level of accuracy. We aimed to delineate how older, compared to younger, adults varied in their performance of the task, while also assessing relationships between the task outcome and gender, general cognition (MoCA), perceived memory function (MFQ), cognitive reserve (NART), and aspects of mood (PHQ-9, GAD-7). The results indicate that older adults were significantly slower than younger adults but no less precise, irrespective of gender. Age was negatively correlated with the speed of task performance. Our measure of general cognition was positively correlated with the task speed threshold but not with age per se. Perceived memory function, cognitive reserve, and mood were not related to task performance. The findings indicate that while attentional control is less efficient in older adulthood, age alone is not a defining factor in relation to accuracy. In a real-life context, general cognitive function, in conjunction with dynamic measures such as STAC, may represent a far more effective strategy for assessing the complex executive functions underlying driving ability.

Gait and balance disturbances are common in young urbanites and associated with cognitive impairment. Air pollution and the historical development of Alzheimer's disease in the young

“… 36 , 37 MoCA covers several cognitive domains including episodic memory, language, attention, orientation, visuospatial and executive functions and has been validated in Mexican populations. 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53…”

Age-Related Changes in Attentional Refocusing during Simulated Driving

“…However, possible explanations of the cognitive mechanisms underlying longer RTs in the Delayed compared to Immediate Switch condition are merely speculative and would benefit from further research that could include eye-tracking, for instance. Such considerations also highlight the complex issues that have to be considered in dynamic naturalistic settings (e.g., [18]).…”

“…In the context of driving, one is required to maintain several task goals at once, for example vehicle control, route finding and monitoring traffic, pedestrians and bicycles. Goal switching between different tasks could, therefore, be substantially more challenging for older adults while driving in a dynamically evolving scenario (e.g., [18]).…”

Age-related Changes in Attentional Refocusing During Simulated Driving

“…Such considerations also highlight the complex issues that have to be considered in dynamic naturalistic settings (e.g. [18]).…”

“…Goal switching between different tasks could therefore be substantially more challenging for older adults while driving in a dynamically evolving scenario (e.g. [18]).…”