We seek to understand the psychological and biopsychological aspects of normal and pathological aging in terms of attention and attentional processes. We are also concerned with applying that knowledge to develop strategies for improving attentional and cognitive functioning. We found that, when compared with controls, 14 men who developed dementia had significantly poorer sustained attention 4 to 12 years prior to the estimated date of onset of dementia. Furthermore, 13 of 14 dements but only 18 of 34 controls had sustained attention detection accuracy scores of less than 79%. We continue our 6 year longitudinal testing of sustained attention and 20 year longitudinal testing using our retrospective self-report questionnaire on spontaneous attention switching to the contents of consciousness.
