ND COBRE: INHIBITION AND AGE RELATED CHANGES IN VISUAL SEARCH

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。该项目的目标是确定导致成人视觉搜索年龄差异的认知机制。视觉搜索，即在杂乱的视野中找到指定目标物体的能力（例如，停车场里的一辆车），特别容易受到年龄的影响（Plude, Enns, & Brodeur, 1994）。除非目标物体很容易与其他物体区分（例如，基于明显的物理特征），否则老年人在视觉场景中识别与目标相关的物体需要更长的时间，并且更容易被无关的物体分散注意力。搜索能力受损对老年人在驾驶、购物、休闲活动、药物管理和适应新环境等各种日常任务中的表现都有重要影响。与年龄相关的空间选择变化有关的一个特定认知过程是抑制性控制（Kramer et al., 1994; Zacks & Hasher, 1997）。抑制作用影响空间定向的一种方式是减缓视觉焦点返回到已经搜索过的位置，从而促进搜索的新颖性（Klein, 2000）。如果这种被称为返回抑制的抑制过程受到损害，个体的注意力就更有可能回到已经搜索过的位置，从而降低搜索效率。该项目将使用反应时间、眼动追踪和电生理方法来研究年龄和抑制在视觉搜索成功中的相互作用。超越传统范例，性能将在开始接近自然搜索的条件下进行检查（当搜索多个项目时，当个人对搜索具有内生控制时，以及当搜索需要眼球运动时）。基本目标是阐明抑制过程在视觉/扫视以及视觉搜索的注意成分中的作用。具体目的如下：1)研究视觉搜索过程中眼球运动和注意力转移的相互关系的年龄差异。2)描述在寻找细节场景时探索性眼球运动抑制的年龄差异。3)利用电生理方法研究视觉搜索抑制过程中年龄差异的神经基础。我们的目标是了解视觉搜索的认知和神经机制，因为它在现实世界中起作用。最终，这些知识将有助于为老年人设计更有效的视觉环境，并开发认知干预措施，增强对关键视觉信息的检测。Patricia Reuter-Lorenz是Langley博士的个人项目导师。Reuter-Lorenz博士将每年访问Langley博士的实验室一次（反之亦然），并将协助Langley博士设计和解释实验，并为Langley博士最终提交的R01拨款提案进行准备和批判性审查。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this project is to determine the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to adult age differences in visual search. Visual search, the ability to find designated target objects in a cluttered visual field (e.g., a car in a parking lot), is particularly susceptible to age (Plude, Enns, & Brodeur, 1994). Unless target objects are easily distinguishable from other objects (e.g., based on a distinct physical feature), older adults take longer to identify goal-relevant objects in a visual scene and are more distracted by irrelevant objects. Compromised search ability has important implications for older adults'' performance on a variety of everyday tasks including driving, shopping, leisure activities, medication management, and navigating new environments. One particular cognitive process implicated in age-related change in spatial selection is inhibitory control (Kramer et al., 1994; Zacks & Hasher, 1997). One way in which inhibition influences spatial orienting is by slowing the return of visual focus to locations that have already been searched, thus promoting novelty in search (Klein, 2000). If this inhibitory process, called inhibition of return, is compromised, an individual''s attention is more likely to return to locations that have already been searched, thus reducing search efficiency. The proposed project will examine the interaction of age and inhibition in the success of visual search using reaction time, eye tracking, and electrophysiological approaches. Moving beyond the traditional paradigms, performance will be examined under conditions that begin to approximate natural search (when multiple items are searched, when an individual has endogenous control over search, and when eye movements are required for search). The basic objective is to shed light on the role of inhibitory processes in visual/saccadic as well as attentional components of visual search. The specific aims are as follows: 1) Examine age differences in the interrelationships of eye movements and attentional shifting during visual search. 2) Characterize age differences in the inhibition of exploratory eye movements during search of detailed scenes. 3) Examine the neural basis of age differences in inhibitory processes of visual search using electrophysiological measures. The goal is to move toward an understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms of visual search as it functions in real world contexts. Ultimately, this knowledge will contribute to designing more effective visual environments for older adults and to developing cognitive interventions that enhance detection of critical visual information. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz serves as Dr. Langley's Individual Project Mentor. Dr. Reuter-Lorenz will visit Dr. Langley's laboatory once per year (and vice versa), and will assist Dr. Langley in the design and interpretation of experiments, and with the preparation and critical review of Dr. Langley's eventual R01 grant proposal submission.