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Lazar-Kurz Z, Aziz J, McKearney KJ, Hamon-Hill C, MacDonald A, Newman A, Eskes G. Age-related changes to electroencephalographic markers of visuomotor error processing and learning in prism adaptation. Neuropsychologia 2023; 184:108546. [PMID: 36965703 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
Aging is associated with changes in cognitive function, including declines in learning, memory, and executive function. Prism adaptation (PA) is a useful paradigm to measure changes in explicit and implicit mechanisms of visuo-motor learning with age, but the neural correlates are not well understood. In the present study, we used PA to investigate visuo-motor learning and error processing in older adults. Twenty older adults (56-85 yrs) and 20 younger adults (18-33 yrs) underwent a goal-oriented reaching task while wearing prism goggles as continuous EEG was recorded to examine neural correlates of error detection. We examined behavioural measures of PA, as well as ERP components previously found associated with the early and late phases of adaptation to visual distortion caused by the prism goggles. Our results indicate important age-related behavioural and neurophysiological differences. Older adults reached more slowly than younger adults but showed the same accuracy throughout the prism exposure. Older adults also displayed larger aftereffects, indicating preserved visuomotor adaptation. EEG results indicated similar initial error processing in older and younger adults, as measured by the feedback error related negativity (FRN). As seen previously in young adults, the P3a and P3b declined over the prism exposure phase in both groups. Older adults displayed reduced P3a amplitude compared to the younger group in the early phase of adaptation, however, suggesting reduced attentional orienting. Finally, the older group exhibited a greater P3b amplitude compared to the younger group in the later phases of adaptation, potentially a marker of enhanced context updating underlying spatial realignment, leading to their larger aftereffect. Implications for age-related learning differences and clinical applications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Lazar-Kurz
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada; Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Jasmine Aziz
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Katelyn J McKearney
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Cindy Hamon-Hill
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada; Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Arthur MacDonald
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Aaron Newman
- Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Gail Eskes
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
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