Effects of healthy aging and early stage dementia of the Alzheimer's type on components of response time distributions in three attention tasks.
Effects of healthy aging and early stage dementia of the Alzheimer's type on components of response time distributions in three attention tasks.
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DOI：
10.1037/a0018274
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发表时间：
2010-05
期刊：
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
C. Tse;D. Balota;M. Yap;J. Duchek;D. P. Mccabe
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
C. Tse;D. Balota;M. Yap;J. Duchek;D. P. Mccabe
目的探讨年轻人、健康老年人和极轻度阿尔茨海默型痴呆（DAT）患者在3种注意任务中反应时（RT）分布的特征。方法参与者被管理的计算机Stroop，西蒙，转换任务，沿着与心理测量任务，挖掘各种认知能力和标准人格量表（NEO-FFI）。使用Ex-Gaussian（和非高斯）分析来捕获每个参与者在3个任务中的RT分布的特征，其提供3个分量：mu和sigma（分布的模态部分的平均值和标准差）和tau（分布的正尾）。结果：在所有3个注意力任务中，健康老龄化使分布的中心趋势μ参数沿着发生较大变化，σ和τ也发生了一些变化（平均etap（2）分别为0.17、0.08和0.04）。相比之下，早期DAT主要导致tau组分增加（平均etap（2）= 0.06）。tau还与情景/语义记忆、工作记忆和处理速度的心理测量指标以及神经质和焦虑的人格特征相关。结构方程模型表明，与sigma（-0.09）和mu结构（0.24）相比，潜在tau结构（-0.90）与工作记忆测量之间存在独特的关系。结论：结果表明，注意力控制系统在区分健康老龄化早期DAT和RT分布分析的效用，以更好地说明这种变化的性质的关键作用。
OBJECTIVE The characteristics of response time (RT) distributions beyond measures of central tendency were explored in 3 attention tasks across groups of young adults, healthy older adults, and individuals with very mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). METHOD Participants were administered computerized Stroop, Simon, and switching tasks, along with psychometric tasks that tap various cognitive abilities and a standard personality inventory (NEO-FFI). Ex-Gaussian (and Vincentile) analyses were used to capture the characteristics of the RT distributions for each participant across the 3 tasks, which afforded 3 components: mu and sigma (mean and standard deviation of the modal portion of the distribution) and tau (the positive tail of the distribution). RESULTS The results indicated that across all 3 attention tasks, healthy aging produced large changes in the central tendency mu parameter of the distribution along with some change in sigma and tau (mean etap(2) = .17, .08, and .04, respectively). In contrast, early stage DAT primarily produced an increase in the tau component (mean etap(2) = .06). tau was also correlated with the psychometric measures of episodic/semantic memory, working memory, and processing speed, and with the personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness. Structural equation modeling indicated a unique relation between a latent tau construct (-.90), as opposed to sigma (-.09) and mu constructs (.24), with working memory measures. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest a critical role of attentional control systems in discriminating healthy aging from early stage DAT and the utility of RT distribution analyses to better specify the nature of such change.