External distraction impairs categorization performance in older adults.

The detrimental influence of distraction on memory and attention is well established, yet it is not as clear whether irrelevant information impacts categorization abilities and whether this impact changes in aging. We examined categorization with morphed prototype stimuli in both younger and older adults, using an adaptive staircase approach to assess participants' performance in conditions with and without visual distractors. Results showed that distraction did not affect younger adults, but produced a negative impact on older adults' categorization such that there was an interaction of age and distraction. These results suggest a relationship between the increased susceptibility to visual distraction in normal aging and impairment in categorization.

[1]  Adam Gazzaley,et al.  Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Impact of Visual Distraction on Retrieval of Long-Term Memory , 2010, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[2]  Adam Gazzaley,et al.  Neural Suppression of Irrelevant Information Underlies Optimal Working Memory Performance , 2009, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[3]  N. Lavie,et al.  The role of working memory in attentional capture , 2005, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

[4]  Stephen D. Mayhew,et al.  Learning Shapes the Representation of Visual Categories in the Aging Human Brain , 2010, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[5]  S. Yantis,et al.  Selective visual attention and perceptual coherence , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[6]  R. Desimone.  Visual attention mediated by biased competition in extrastriate visual cortex. , 1998, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[7]  Cynthia P. May,et al.  Inhibitory control, circadian arousal, and age. , 1999 .

[8]  M. Riesenhuber,et al.  Categorization Training Results in Shape- and Category-Selective Human Neural Plasticity , 2007, Neuron.

[9]  M. Fahle,et al.  Visual learning and memory as functions of age , 1997, Neuropsychologia.

[10]  R. Knight,et al.  Age-related top-down suppression deficit in the early stages of cortical visual memory processing , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[11]  P. Rabbitt,et al.  AN AGE-DECREMENT IN THE ABILITY TO IGNORE IRRELEVANT INFORMATION. , 1965, Journal of gerontology.

[12]  N. Lavie.  Distracted and confused?: Selective attention under load , 2005, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[13]  David J. Madden,et al.  Aging and Visual Attention , 2007, Current directions in psychological science.

[14]  Brian D. Glass,et al.  Normal aging and the dissociable prototype learning systems. , 2012, Psychology and aging.

[15]  David J. Freedman,et al.  Neural mechanisms of visual categorization: Insights from neurophysiology , 2008, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[16]  Arthur F Kramer,et al.  Training older adults to search more effectively: scanning strategy and visual search in dynamic displays. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[17]  David J. Freedman,et al.  Categorical representation of visual stimuli in the primate prefrontal cortex. , 2001, Science.

[18]  W. T. Maddox,et al.  Dissociable Prototype Learning Systems: Evidence from Brain Imaging and Behavior , 2008, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[19]  W. T. Maddox,et al.  A quantitative model-based approach to examining aging effects on information-integration category learning. , 2004, Psychology and aging.

[20]  Jeffrey W. Cooney,et al.  Top-down suppression deficit underlies working memory impairment in normal aging , 2005, Nature Neuroscience.

[21]  Andrew B. Leber,et al.  Coordination of Voluntary and Stimulus-Driven Attentional Control in Human Cortex , 2005, Psychological science.

[22]  M. D’Esposito.  Working memory. , 2008, Handbook of clinical neurology.

[23]  R. Desimone,et al.  The Role of Neural Mechanisms of Attention in Solving the Binding Problem , 1999, Neuron.

[24]  N. Lavie,et al.  The influence of perceptual load on age differences in selective attention. , 1998, Psychology and aging.

[25]  W. T. Maddox,et al.  Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Human Category Learning 2.0 Brief Review of First-generation Research , 2022 .

[26]  J. McCarley,et al.  Age, clutter, and competitive selection. , 2012, Psychology and aging.

[27]  Adam Gazzaley,et al.  Mechanisms of working memory disruption by external interference. , 2010, Cerebral cortex.

[28]  Lisa R. Betts,et al.  The effects of aging on orientation discrimination , 2007, Vision Research.

[29]  Peter E. Wais,et al.  Distractibility during episodic retrieval is exacerbated by perturbation of left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. , 2012, Cerebral Cortex.

[30]  B. Hommel,et al.  Visual search across the life span. , 2004, Developmental psychology.

[31]  Peter E. Wais,et al.  The impact of visual distraction on episodic retrieval in older adults , 2012, Brain Research.

[32]  David J. Freedman,et al.  Visual categorization and the primate prefrontal cortex: neurophysiology and behavior. , 2002, Journal of neurophysiology.

[33]  W Todd Maddox,et al.  Category number impacts rule-based but not information-integration category learning: further evidence for dissociable category-learning systems. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[34]  David J. Freedman,et al.  A Comparison of Primate Prefrontal and Inferior Temporal Cortices during Visual Categorization , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[35]  David L. Faigman,et al.  Human category learning. , 2005, Annual review of psychology.