Perceptual load, voluntary attention, and aging: An event-related potential study

The locus of attentional selection is known to vary with perceptual load (Lavie et al., 2004). Under voluntary attention, perceptual load modulates selective visual processing at an early cortical stage, as reflected in the posterior P1 and N1 components of the event-related potentials (ERPs). Adult aging also affects both behavioral and ERP signs of attentional selection. However, it is not known whether perceptual load modulates this relationship. Accordingly, in the present study ERPs were recorded in a voluntary attention task. Young and old participants were asked to discriminate the direction of a target line embedded within a display of four lines that appeared in the left or right visual field. Participants responded faster and more accurately to valid relative to invalid trials and to low-load relative to high-load condition. Older participants responded more slowly and with lower accuracy than young participants in all conditions. The amplitudes of the posterior contralateral P1 and N1 components in valid trials were larger than that in invalid trials in all conditions. N1 amplitude was larger under the high load condition than that in the low load condition. Moreover, in the high perceptual load condition, the old group had a larger N1 than the young group at contralateral sites. The findings suggest that under voluntary attention, perceptual load and aging modulates attentional selection at an early but not the earliest stage, during the N1 (120–200 ms) time range. Increased N1 amplitude in older adults may reflect increased demands on target discrimination in high perceptual load.

► The spatial attention effect was significant in both young and old groups.
► The speed of early perceptual processing is compromised with increasing age.
► Perceptual load and aging effects take place at the stimulus discrimination stage.
► Perceptual load modulates attention and this modulation varies with aging.
► Cue validity effect was found on C1 component.