Anti-saccade performance in young and old: What juvenile and elderly have in common D Mack, U J Ilg |
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Department of Cognitive Neurology (Oculomotor), Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Germany
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| The ability to inhibit reflexive behavior to achieve long-term goals is associated with cognitive control and modulated by age. Especially elderly people suffer from impaired cognitive control and oculomotor behavior. We analyzed the performance of teenagers, young adults and elderly people (age 15-93 years, n=354) in the anti-saccade paradigm. There, subjects should move their eyes in the opposite direction to a visual stimulus (“anti-saccade”). Sometimes, subjects succumb to their reflexive behavior and look at the target (“pro-saccade”). The frequency of pro-saccades (“error rate”) is an ideal measure for cognitive control. Paralleling earlier reports [1], shortest pro-saccadic reaction times (pro-SRTs) were found in teenagers and young adults, whereas elderly people showed longer pro-SRTs. Anti-SRTs were shortest only in young adults. Surprisingly, anti-SRTs of teenagers were more similar to those of elderly people. The same age dependency showed up in the error rates. The analysis of saccadic peak velocities revealed no influence of age. Increased anti-SRTs and error rates in teenagers may be attributed to delayed maturation of the frontal lobes [1]. Overall increased SRTs and elevated error rates in elderly people may be a good indicator for an age-related decline in cognitive control. [1] Munoz et al, 1998, Experimental Brain Research, 121, 391-400. |
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