Cargando…

Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults

Performing multiple tasks in parallel is detrimental to performance, a phenomenon generically referred to as dual-task interference (DTi). Several variables can modulate DTi at the individual level, and increasing age is typically described as negatively affecting response costs. In this study, we i...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Contemori, Giulio, Saccani, Maria Silvia, Bonato, Mario
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9396999/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35997379
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision6030048
_version_ 1784772038615891968
author Contemori, Giulio
Saccani, Maria Silvia
Bonato, Mario
author_facet Contemori, Giulio
Saccani, Maria Silvia
Bonato, Mario
author_sort Contemori, Giulio
collection PubMed
description Performing multiple tasks in parallel is detrimental to performance, a phenomenon generically referred to as dual-task interference (DTi). Several variables can modulate DTi at the individual level, and increasing age is typically described as negatively affecting response costs. In this study, we investigated, in 252 healthy adults aged between 50 and 89 years, how age modulates the detrimental effect of DTi during the encoding of images. We combined a visual memory task and a sustained attention task (i.e., an auditory version of the continuous performance task, ACPT) in three separate blocks. In the first block, participants had to perform a four-alternative forced-choice recognition of previously memorized images without having attended to ACPT sounds during the encoding. In the second block, during memorization, participants had to press a response key when detecting the letter “X” within a stream of letters (Low Load). In the third block, they had to respond only when the letter “X” was preceded by the letter “A” (High Load). The results showed that overall performance linearly decreased with age. In contrast with our predictions, DTi was stable across different ages. Finally, using a cluster-based approach, we found that participants who paid the highest costs when dual-tasking also demonstrated, on a self-administered cognitive screening significantly lower scores than peers. These new types of tests, which ask for concurrent task performance, might become useful for detecting outlier performance that might anticipate or correlate with aging–related cognitive decline.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9396999
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-93969992022-08-24 Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults Contemori, Giulio Saccani, Maria Silvia Bonato, Mario Vision (Basel) Article Performing multiple tasks in parallel is detrimental to performance, a phenomenon generically referred to as dual-task interference (DTi). Several variables can modulate DTi at the individual level, and increasing age is typically described as negatively affecting response costs. In this study, we investigated, in 252 healthy adults aged between 50 and 89 years, how age modulates the detrimental effect of DTi during the encoding of images. We combined a visual memory task and a sustained attention task (i.e., an auditory version of the continuous performance task, ACPT) in three separate blocks. In the first block, participants had to perform a four-alternative forced-choice recognition of previously memorized images without having attended to ACPT sounds during the encoding. In the second block, during memorization, participants had to press a response key when detecting the letter “X” within a stream of letters (Low Load). In the third block, they had to respond only when the letter “X” was preceded by the letter “A” (High Load). The results showed that overall performance linearly decreased with age. In contrast with our predictions, DTi was stable across different ages. Finally, using a cluster-based approach, we found that participants who paid the highest costs when dual-tasking also demonstrated, on a self-administered cognitive screening significantly lower scores than peers. These new types of tests, which ask for concurrent task performance, might become useful for detecting outlier performance that might anticipate or correlate with aging–related cognitive decline. MDPI 2022-08-04 /pmc/articles/PMC9396999/ /pubmed/35997379 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision6030048 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Contemori, Giulio
Saccani, Maria Silvia
Bonato, Mario
Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title_full Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title_fullStr Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title_full_unstemmed Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title_short Multitasking Effects on Perception and Memory in Older Adults
title_sort multitasking effects on perception and memory in older adults
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9396999/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35997379
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vision6030048
work_keys_str_mv AT contemorigiulio multitaskingeffectsonperceptionandmemoryinolderadults
AT saccanimariasilvia multitaskingeffectsonperceptionandmemoryinolderadults
AT bonatomario multitaskingeffectsonperceptionandmemoryinolderadults