BRAIN POTENTIALS-ERPS--LANGUAGE, MEMORY, AND AGING

一项为期五年的研究计划，旨在澄清 正常衰老对心理活动的组织、速度和效能的影响 语言处理和记忆中的操作。 事件相关电位 将从正常人受试者的头皮记录在两个时间段之间的ERP。 年龄在20岁和90岁之间的人对语言材料的反应， 行为测量 总体目标是建立一个数据库， 测试关于正常老化对语义和 语音分析，编码和检索方面的记忆， 语言材料，以及视觉和听觉中的分类速度 方式。 我们计划通过假设的 N400组件与语义/词汇搜索之间的关系 P3成分和刺激评价的持续时间 流程. 本实验的具体目的是：（1）使用 目标探测反应时与P3潜伏期关系 在不同复杂性的古怪范例中， 衰老反映了中枢神经系统功能的普遍减慢， 某些心理操作和材料的特定缺陷。 (2)到 研究了三种不同任务（词汇任务和词汇任务）中的语义启动效应 决定，发音，延迟字母搜索）在同一组 受试者，以确定是否老化的影响是独立的任务。 此外，为了使用这些任务来验证衰老更多的假设， 不利于注意力自动语言处理方面。 (3)使用再认测验和线索回忆测验， 不一致的话，以确定初步的信息程度 演示文稿. (4)为了检验衰老是否与 对语义和语音过程的影响 这项研究项目将完善电生理措施， 与语言处理和记忆有关的重要认知功能 在正常成年人的一生中。 这个规范的数据库 应该对年轻人和老年人的未来评估有价值 语言处理障碍

A five-year research program is described which is aimed at clarifying the effect of normal aging on the organization, speed and efficacy of mental operations in language processing and memory. Event-related potentials (ERPs) will be recorded from the scalp of normal human subjects between the ages of 20 and 90 in response to linguistic materials and combined with behavioral measures. The overall goals are to establish a data base and to test hypotheses about the impact of normal aging on semantic and phonological analyses, encoding and retrieval aspects of memory for language materials, and speed of categorization in the visual and auditory modalities. We plan to approach these goals via the hypothesized relationship between the N400 component and semantic/lexical search mechanisms, and the P3 component and the duration of stimulus evaluation processes. The specific aims of the separate experiments are: (1) To use the relationship between reaction time and P3 latency for target detection in oddball paradigms of varying complexity to test the hypothesis that aging reflects a generalized slowing of CNS functioning as opposed to specific deficits for certain mental operations and materials. (2) To investigate semantic priming effects in three different tasks (lexical decision, pronunciation, delayed letter search) in the same group of subjects in order to determine whether aging effects are task independent. Moreover, to use these tasks to test the hypothesis that aging is more detrimental to attentional that automatic aspects of language processing. (3) To use tests of recognition and cued recall for congruous and incongruous words to determine the extent of information on initial presentation. (4) To examine whether aging has similar or different effects on semantic versus phonological processes. This research project will refine electrophysiological measures of important cognitive functions in relation to language processing and memory organization in normal adults throughout life. This normative data base should be of value for the future assessment of young and old individuals with disorders of language processing.