Vision and touch in ageing: crossmodal selective attention and visuotactile spatial interactions. 2006

E Poliakoff, and S Ashworth, and C Lowe, and C Spence
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Ellen@poliakoff.org.uk

We investigated whether ageing affects crossmodal selective attention (the ability to focus on a relevant sensory modality and ignore an irrelevant modality) and the spatial constraints on such selective processing. Three groups of 24 participants were tested: Young (19-25 years), Young-Old (65-72 years) and Old-Old (76-92 years). The participants had to judge the elevation of vibrotactile targets (upper/index finger and lower/thumb), presented randomly to either hand while ignoring concurrent visual distractors. In a second task, the role of the target and distractor modalities was reversed. Crossmodal selective attention was assessed by comparing performance in the presence versus absence of distractors. Spatial constraints on selective attention were also investigated by comparing the effect of distractors presented on the same versus opposite side as the target. When attending to touch, the addition of visual distractors had a significantly larger effect on error rates in both of the older groups as compared to the Young group. This indicates that ageing has a detrimental effect on crossmodal selective attention. In all three age groups, performance was impaired when the target and distractor were presented at incongruent as compared to congruent elevations in both tasks. This congruency effect was modulated by the relative spatial location of the target and distractor in certain conditions for the Young and the Young-Old group. That is, participants in the two younger age groups found it harder to attend selectively to targets in one modality, when distractor stimuli came from the same side rather than from the opposite side. However, no significant spatial modulation was found in the Old-Old group. This suggests that ageing may also compromise spatial aspects of crossmodal selective attention.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007699 Kinesthesis Sense of movement of a part of the body, such as movement of fingers, elbows, knees, limbs, or weights. Kinesthesia,Kinesthetic Sense,Movement Sensation,Kinestheses,Kinesthesias,Kinesthetic Senses,Movement Sensations
D007839 Functional Laterality Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot. Ambidexterity,Behavioral Laterality,Handedness,Laterality of Motor Control,Mirror Writing,Laterality, Behavioral,Laterality, Functional,Mirror Writings,Motor Control Laterality,Writing, Mirror,Writings, Mirror
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D009949 Orientation Awareness of oneself in relation to time, place and person. Cognitive Orientation,Mental Orientation,Psychological Orientation,Cognitive Orientations,Mental Orientations,Orientation, Cognitive,Orientation, Mental,Orientation, Psychological,Orientations,Orientations, Cognitive,Orientations, Mental,Orientations, Psychological,Psychological Orientations
D010364 Pattern Recognition, Visual Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs. Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D011930 Reaction Time The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed. Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D012016 Reference Values The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality. Normal Range,Normal Values,Reference Ranges,Normal Ranges,Normal Value,Range, Normal,Range, Reference,Ranges, Normal,Ranges, Reference,Reference Range,Reference Value,Value, Normal,Value, Reference,Values, Normal,Values, Reference
D005260 Female Females

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