Age-related deficits in attentional control of perceptual rivalry

Senay Aydin, Niall C. Strang, Velitchko Manahilov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Some aspects of attentional processing are known to decline with normal aging. To understand how age affects the attentional control of perceptual stability, we investigated age-related changes in voluntarily controlled perceptual rivalry. Durations of the dominant percept, produced by an ambiguous Rubin vase-faces figure, were measured in conditions that required passive viewing and attentional control: holding and switching the dominant percept. During passive viewing, mean dominance duration in the older group was significantly longer (63%) than the dominance duration found in the young group. This age-related deficit could be due to a decline in the apparent strength of the alternating percepts as a result of higher contrast gain of visual cortical activity and a reduction in the amount of attentional resources allocated to the ambiguous stimulus in older people compared to young adults. In comparison to passive viewing, holding the dominant percept did not significantly alter the dominance durations in the older group, while the dominance durations in the young group were increased (~100%). The dominance durations for both age groups in switch conditions were reduced compared to their passive viewing durations (~40%). The inability of older people to voluntarily prolong the duration of the dominant percept suggests that they may have abnormal attentional mechanisms, which are inefficient at enhancing the effective strength of the dominant percept. Results suggest that older adults have difficulty holding attended visual objects in focus, a problem that could affect their ability to carry out everyday tasks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)32-40
Number of pages9
JournalVision Research
Volume77
Early online date1 Dec 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jan 2013

Keywords

  • aging
  • ambiguous rubin figure
  • attention
  • perceptual rivalry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ophthalmology
  • Sensory Systems

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