Aging and attentional guidance during visual search: functional neuroanatomy by positron emission tomography.
Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to examine adult age differences in neural activation during visual search. Target detection was less accurate for older adults than for younger adults, but both age groups were successful in using color to guide attention to a subset of display items. Increasing perceptual difficulty led to greater activation of occipitotemporal cortex for younger adults than for older adults, apparently as the result of older adults maintaining higher levels of activation within the easier task conditions. The results suggest that compensation for age-related decline in the efficiency of occipitotemporal cortical functioning was implemented by changes in the relative level of activation within this visual processing pathway, rather than by the recruitment of other cortical regions.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- Visual Pathways
- Tomography, Emission-Computed
- Temporal Lobe
- Reference Values
- Pattern Recognition, Visual
- Orientation
- Occipital Lobe
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Visual Pathways
- Tomography, Emission-Computed
- Temporal Lobe
- Reference Values
- Pattern Recognition, Visual
- Orientation
- Occipital Lobe
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Humans