Age-related decrements in performance on a brief continuous performance test

    Authors

    T. M. Mani; J. S. Bedwell;L. S. Miller

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol.

    Keywords

    continuous performance test; aging; impulsivity; inhibition; sustained; attention; selective attention; VERSION CPT-IP; SUSTAINED-ATTENTION; OLDER-ADULTS; RESPONSE-INHIBITION; VIGILANCE; DEFICITS; LESIONS; CORTEX; YOUNG; TASK; Psychology, Clinical; Psychology

    Abstract

    Research has revealed age-related decrements in performance on a variety of attention-related tasks, including sustained attention, selective attention, and inhibition tasks (e.g., [Armstrong, C. (1997). Selective versus sustained attention: A continuous performance test revisited. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 11(1), 18-3 3; Chao, L. L. & Knight, R. T. (1997). Prefrontal deficits in attention and inhibitory control with aging. Cerebral Cortex, 7(1), 63-69; Deaton, J. E., & Parasuraman, R. (1993). Sensory and cognitive vigilance: Effects of age on performance and subjective workload. Human Performance, 6(1), 71-97]). The continuous performance test (CPT) is a well-recognized measure of sustained attention and impulsivity [Riccio, C. A., Reynolds, C. R., & Lowe, P. (200 1). Clinical applications of continuous performance tests: Measuring attention and impulsive responding in children and adults. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.]. In the following study, the influence of age on CPT performance was assessed. Thirty-two healthy adults (age 19-82) completed a brief K-A version of the CPT under "clear" and "noisy" trial conditions. Under both conditions, participants' accuracy on the CPT task decreased with age. In both conditions, the number of commission errors (including false alarms) increased significantly as age increased. This relationship differed with omission errors, as age accounted for a significant proportion of variance in omission errors under the noisy condition alone. Overall, this study provides evidence for age-related differences in performance on a brief CPT, particularly for deficits in selective response inhibition. (c) 2005 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology

    Volume

    20

    Issue/Number

    5

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    575

    Last Page

    586

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000230266900002

    ISSN

    0887-6177

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