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. Adults over 65 years of age have become the most rapidly growing sector of the United States population. It is of considerable concern that all sensory systems exhibit diminished function with age. Many of the disabilities associated with aging that may impact the quality of life may be impacted by changes in the integration of information from multiple sensory modalities. Distractions from unattended or background stimuli in multisensory stimulation paradigms are consistently increased in aged individuals, and the corresponding neural responses to such stimuli are also abnormally increased. The behavioral disruptions caused by task-irrelevant stimuli are accompanied by alterations in patterns of brain activity in older adults during tasks that require the suppression of interfering or conflicting information. In addition, while older adults maintain vigilance and sustained attention abilities equivalent to those of young subjects, their performance on selective or divided attention tasks deteriorates significantly. The study proposed here will determine the extent and magnitude of functional changes in brain activity in older adults who participate in an attention training program.
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