Aging in cognitive control of social processing: evidence from the attention network test. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Federico, Francesca; Marotta, Andrea; Orsolini, Margherita; Casagrande, Maria
• Is Part Of: Aging, neuropsychology, and cognition. Volume 28:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 128
• Page End: 142
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Attention network test -- development of the human attentional system -- aging -- executive control -- eye gaze; Aging -- Periodicals; Cognition in old age -- Periodicals; Cognition disorders in old age -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; Aging -- periodicals; Neuropsychology -- periodicals; Cognition -- periodicals; Mental Disorders -- periodicals; Gerontology -- periodicals; Mental Health -- periodicals; 155.67
• DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2020.1715336
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1382-5585

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Aging seems to be associated with impairment of attentional network functioning. It is not known whether social information can modulate this age-related decline. We used three variants of Attention Network test to examine the age-related decline of attentional effects in response to stimuli with and without social-cognitive content. Three groups of younger, middle-aged, and older participants performed the ANT, using fish, drawings, or photographs of faces looking to the left or right as target and flanker stimuli. The results showed that both executive attention and alerting were more resistant to the age-related decline with social stimuli and that orienting attention scores showed a progressive increase with age in the presence of this kind of stimuli. These findings underline the importance of social information in modulating and contrasting the age-related decline and support the status of human faces as a special class of visual stimuli for the human attentional systems.