Does compensatory neural activity survive old-old age?

► Resource allocation, indexed by P3 amp, was studied in high performing adults, 18-96. ► Age vs. resource allocation followed an inverted u-shaped curve. ► In subject-controlled novelty oddball task, P3 amp peaked in late 60s-early 70s. ► Thereafter, there was an inverse relationship between age and resource allocation. ► By late 80s, there was a robust decline in P3 amp.