Age-related changes in midfrontal theta activity during steering control: A driving simulator study.
Neurobiol Aging
; 123: 145-153, 2023 03.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36572595
ABSTRACT
Motor control, a ubiquitous part of driving, requires increased cognitive controlled processing in older adults relative to younger adults. However, the influence of aging on motor-related neural mechanisms in the context of driving has rarely been studied. The present study aimed to identify age-related changes in cognitive control and attention allocation during a simulated steering task, using electroencephalography. Midfrontal theta, a marker for cognitive control, and posterior alpha power, a marker for attention allocation, were measured in a total of 26 young, 25 middle-aged, and 28 older adults. By adapting driving speed, the difficulty level of this steering task was individualized for each participant. Results show age-related changes in midfrontal theta power, but not in posterior alpha power, despite similar steering accuracy across age groups. Specifically, only younger and, to a lesser extent, middle-aged adults exhibited increased theta power while driving through more demanding curved segments relative to straight segments. In contrast, theta power upregulation was absent in older adults, suggesting a saturation of cognitive resources while driving, possibly due to a limitation in resource capacity, or less automatic motor-related neural processing.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Envejecimiento
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Electroencefalografía
Límite:
Aged
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Humans
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article