Attention to semantic and spatial information in aging and Alzheimer's disease

• Main Authors: Christina Bastin de Jong, J. Bruce Overmier, Luis J. Fuentes, Linda K. Langley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2001-01-01
• Series: Psicológica
• Online Access: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=16922208

In two experiments we explored the patterns of attention to semantic and
 spatial information in younger adults, older adults, and patients with
 Alzheimers disease (AD). In the first experiment, a semantic priming task
 measured age- and AD-related changes in attentional sensitivity to semantic
 information. In the second experiment, the semantic priming task was
 modified to additionally serve as a spatial inhibition of return (IOR) task.
 The combined semantic and spatial task measured (a) age- and AD-related
 changes in sensitivity to spatial cues as well as to semantic primes, and (b)
 interactions between the networks that subserve attention to semantic and
 spatial information. The results of both experiments revealed group
 differences in the utilization of semantic primes as a function of prime
 validity, suggesting that both older adults and AD patients were less likely
 than younger adults to generate controlled attention-dependent expectancies
 for semantically related information. Spatial IOR effects in Experiment 2
 were evident in the performance of all three groups, but were of reduced
 magnitude in AD patients. Younger adults performance reflected interactions
 between semantic priming and spatial cuing effects. These findings are
 consistent with conclusions that (a) selectivity via semantic primes and via
 spatial cues reflect separate attentional mechanisms, and (b) semantic and
 spatial aspects of attention are mediated by different but closely
 interconnected neural networks.