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. 2009 Mar 4;20(4):349-53.
doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e328323ab07.

Suppression of multisensory integration by modality-specific attention in aging

Christina E Hugenschmidt  1 , Jennifer L Mozolic, Paul J Laurienti
Affiliations

Suppression of multisensory integration by modality-specific attention in aging

Christina E Hugenschmidt et al. Neuroreport. .

Abstract

Previous research shows that modality-specific selective attention attenuates multisensory integration in healthy young adults. In addition, older adults evidence enhanced multisensory integration compared with younger adults. We hypothesized that these increases were because of changes in top-down suppression, and therefore older adults would show multisensory integration while selectively attending. Performance of older and younger adults was compared on a cued discrimination task. Older adults had greater multisensory integration than younger adults in all conditions, yet were still able to reduce integration using selective attention. This suggests that attentional processes are intact in older adults, but are unable to compensate for an overall increase in the amount of sensory processing during divided attention.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Positive deflections in the race model difference curves for younger (A) and older (B) participants show time bins where multisensory integration has occurred. Divided attention curves are higher and broader than selective attention curves for both age groups, and curves for older adults are both wider and higher than those for younger adults in all conditions. These differences are shown clearly by comparing area under the curve (C) for each age group and attention condition. The * indicates significant differences between older and younger adults. Area under the curve is reported in arbitrary units (AU).
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