Where are the old people looking?
In a new study, scientists from the University of Liverpool used a relatively recently developed eye movement test to improve understanding of how brain regions work.
Healthy elderly people face a decrease in cognitive functions, including a violation of inhibitory (inhibitory) control, that is, the ability to stop thinking or doing something. But since the effect of aging on inhibitory control varies greatly from person to person and depending on the tests used, its assessment is the subject of much debate.
Inhibition suffers from conditions such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's disease; patients become irritable, suffer from unwanted obsessive thoughts.
Researchers led by Paul Knox have developed a new test measuring eye movements as a method of investigating inhibitory control and applied it to study the effects of aging on this brain function.Two groups of healthy volunteers from two different age groups were selected for the study: from 19 to 27 years old and from 50 to 72 years old. Participants were asked to look at a point in the center of the computer screen, and then at a second point that lights up on the left or right, but not at the moment of appearance, but when it disappeared. Since people instinctively look at things when they appear, this test requires inhibition of normal automatic eye movement. Eye movements were measured using an infrared tracker, which determines how often the gaze was transferred from the central point too early.
The results showed that older participants were much more likely to look at a point when it appears (rather than when it disappears), and translate their gaze more slowly than younger participants.
As the authors write, a person automatically reacts to things that arise in the field of vision. Nevertheless, the brain is able to stop responding to visual and other stimuli that arise, and this does not allow it to become a slave to the sensory environment.
The study confirms that a decrease in inhibitory control is part of normal aging.
The described test made it possible to accurately measure the inhibitory control. Obviously, it was more difficult for older participants to restrain their actions, even taking into account the general slowing down of movements that inevitably accompanies the aging process. The authors are currently working on refining the test, and then plan to use it to study inhibitory control in a number of important diseases.
Article by P.C.Knoxetal. Age-related alterations ininhibitory control investigated using the minimally delayed oculomotor response task is published in the journal PeerJ.
Aminatadzhieva, portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of UniversityofLiverpool: Study uses eye movement test to confirm brain-ageing effects.