Effects of Aging on Cancellation Tasks

年龄相关性认知功能减退可能会影响功能独立性。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，目前还不清楚这种情况是否反映了其他现实生活中空间搜索任务中涉及的认知、感觉或运动过程，特别是在刺激长期可见且不需要快速反应的情况下。取消测试通常需要在显示器上手动标记多个目标，同时忽略干扰。快速反应并不是严格要求，刺激可能无限期地可见。这类测试可以用来评估加工速度和空间注意力。取消测试通常是给脑损伤的受试者。然而，最近的研究表明，在衰老过程中，它们也可能对搜索过程敏感。这项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与年龄相关的变化的敏感性。取消测试将显示在交互式触摸屏显示器上。在随机阵列对消测试中，受试者将用触控笔触摸所有目标。根据测试的不同，当目标被触摸时，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和手动探索的不同结果。显示设备将计算(1)接触的目标的数量、(2)处理速度、(3)搜索的组织(通过总的路径交叉口)和(4)持续的目标接触。通过评估测试形式的变化是否会影响这些测量，我们将确定取消测试对空间搜索中与年龄相关的变化的敏感度是否可以提高。这些发现将为未来的研究提供规范的数据，以确定取消测试是否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.