Aging
Conditions
Keywords
attention, arousal
Brief summary
Older adults demonstrate increased distractibility by task-irrelevant information which contributes to general cognitive impairment. However, it is yet unclear how changes in noradrenergic activity during aging influences attentional control. In the current study, tonic noradrenergic activity will be increased or decreased to investigate its behavioral and neural effects on attentional control.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
University of Southern California
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Fluent in English * Aged between 18-35 or 50-80 * Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing, and normal color vision * Have a mobile phone and email address
Exclusion criteria
* Non-English speakers * Currently practicing any relaxation, meditation, or breathing technique for more than an hour per week * Have participated in studies measuring attentional capture in the past year * Experiencing symptoms of dementia
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker | Calculated once at the end of the 1 day experiment | The oculomotor suppression effect is a lower likelihood that salient display items will be the target of the initial eye movement in a visual search task compared to nonsalient display items. This effect is calculated from the percentage of first saccades toward a non-target stimuli subtracted by the percentage of first saccades toward the distractor stimuli. Greater % of first saccades toward the target would demonstrate better goal-directed attentional control and greater % of first saccades toward the distractor would demonstrate increased distractibility. Thus, a greater oculomotor suppression effect would demonstrate an increased ability to inhibit salient information that is irrelevant to the task. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Young Adults Young Adults aged 18-30 | 70 |
| Older Adults Older Adults aged 50-80 | 70 |
| Total | 140 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Older Adults | Young Adults | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Customized Age 18 to 30 years old inclusive | 0 Participants | 70 Participants | 70 Participants |
| Age, Customized Age 50 to 80 years old inclusive | 70 Participants | 0 Participants | 70 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 10 Participants | 31 Participants | 41 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 7 Participants | 4 Participants | 11 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 4 Participants | 10 Participants | 14 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants | 10 Participants | 12 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 47 Participants | 15 Participants | 62 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 70 participants | 70 participants | 140 participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Sex Choose not to report | 0 Participants | 1 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Sex Female | 50 Participants | 48 Participants | 98 Participants |
| Sex/Gender, Customized Sex Male | 20 Participants | 21 Participants | 41 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 70 | 0 / 70 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 70 | 0 / 70 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 70 | 0 / 70 |
Outcome results
Primary
Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker
The oculomotor suppression effect is a lower likelihood that salient display items will be the target of the initial eye movement in a visual search task compared to nonsalient display items. This effect is calculated from the percentage of first saccades toward a non-target stimuli subtracted by the percentage of first saccades toward the distractor stimuli. Greater % of first saccades toward the target would demonstrate better goal-directed attentional control and greater % of first saccades toward the distractor would demonstrate increased distractibility. Thus, a greater oculomotor suppression effect would demonstrate an increased ability to inhibit salient information that is irrelevant to the task.
Time frame: Calculated once at the end of the 1 day experiment
Population: Both young and older adults completed the experiment at baseline and under increased arousal (order counterbalanced).
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young Adults Baseline | Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker | 3.8 percentage of first saccades | Standard Error 0.3 |
| Older Adults Basline | Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker | 4.4 percentage of first saccades | Standard Error 1.2 |
| Young Adults + Arousal | Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker | 3.6 percentage of first saccades | Standard Error 0.7 |
| Older Adults + Arousal | Initial Eye-movements Toward Target and Distractor Shapes Measured by an Eye-tracker | 4.5 percentage of first saccades | Standard Error 1.2 |