Effects of Aging on Cancellation Tasks

与年龄相关的认知能力下降可能影响功能独立性。视觉搜索任务可以预测老年人的事故。然而，大多数关于衰老的视觉搜索研究依赖于简短的刺激呈现和快速的手动反应。因此，尚不清楚这些条件是否反映了其他现实生活中的空间搜索任务中涉及的认知、感觉或运动过程，特别是在长时间可见刺激和不需要快速反应的情况下。取消测试通常需要手动标记显示中的多个目标，同时忽略干扰。快速反应并不是严格要求的，刺激可能是无限期可见的。这些测试可以用来评估处理速度和空间注意力。取消测试通常对脑损伤的受试者进行。然而，最近的研究表明，它们也可能对衰老过程中的搜索过程敏感。本研究的目的是确定新的取消评估方法是否可以提高测试对空间搜索中年龄相关变化的敏感性。取消测试将在交互式触摸屏显示器上显示。受试者将用触笔触碰随机阵列消除测试中的所有目标。根据测试的不同，被触摸的目标要么(1)被标记，(2)消失，或者(3)根本没有可见的变化。这些修改将模拟对环境进行视觉探索的不同结果。所述显示装置将计算(1)触摸目标的数量，(2)处理速度，(3)搜索组织（通过总路径交叉点），以及(4)持续的目标接触。通过评估测试格式的变化是否会影响这些措施，我们将确定取消测试对年龄相关空间搜索变化的敏感性是否可以提高。这些发现将为未来的研究提供规范性数据，以确定取消测试是否可能对衰老和神经疾病的功能衰退敏感。

Age-related cognitive decline may affect functional independence. Visual search tasks can predict accidents in the elderly. However, most visual search studies in aging rely on brief stimulus presentations and speeded manual responses. It is therefore unclear whether such conditions may reflect the cognitive, sensory, or motor processes involved in other real-life spatial search tasks, particularly where stimuli are visible for extended periods and speeded responses are not required. Cancellation tests usually require manually marking multiple targets in a display while ignoring distractors. Speeded responses are not strictly required, and stimuli may be visible indefinitely. Such tests can be used to assess speed of processing and spatial attention. Cancellation tests are usually given to brain injured subjects. However, recent studies indicate they also may be sensitive to search processes in aging. The aim of this study is to determine whether new methods of cancellation assessment can improve the test's sensitivity to age-related changes in spatial search. The cancellation test will be presented on an interactive touchscreen display. Subjects will touch all targets in random-array cancellation tests with a stylus. Depending on the test, targets when touched will either (1) be marked, (2) disappear, or (3) show no visible change at all. These modifications will model different outcomes of visuomanual exploration of the environment. The display device will calculate (1) number of targets touched, (2) speed of processing, (3) organization of search (through total pathway intersections), and (4) perseverated target contacts. Through assessing whether changes in test format affect these measures, we will determine whether the cancellation test's sensitivity to age-related changes in spatial search may be improved. The findings will provide normative data for future research to determine whether cancellation tests may be sensitive to functional decline in aging and neurologic disorders.