@article{ref1,
title="Does working memory protect against auditory distraction in older adults?",
journal="BMC geriatrics",
year="2020",
author="Mahajan, Yatin and Kim, Jeesun and Davis, Chris",
volume="20",
number="1",
pages="e515-e515",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Past research indicates that when younger adults are engaged in a visual  working memory task, they are less distracted by novel auditory stimuli than when  engaged in a visual task that does not require working memory. The current study  aimed to determine whether working memory affords the same protection to older  adults. <br><br>METHOD: We examined behavioral and EEG responses in 16 younger and 16 older  adults to distractor sounds when the listeners performed two visual tasks; one that  required working memory (W1) and the other that did not (W0). Auditory distractors  were presented in an oddball paradigm, participants were exposed to either standard  tones (600 Hz: 80%) or various novel environmental sounds (20%). <br><br>RESULTS: It was  found that: 1) when presented with novel vs standard sounds, older adults had faster  correct response times in the W1 visual task than in the W0 task, indicating that  they were less distracted by the novel sound; there was no difference in error  rates. Younger adults did not show a task effect for correct response times but made  slightly more errors when a novel sound was presented in the W1 task compared to the  W0 task. 2) In older adults (but not the younger adults), the amplitude of N1 was  smaller in the W1 condition compared to the W0 condition. 3) The working memory  manipulation had no effect on MMN amplitude in older adults. 4) For the W1 compared  to W0 task, the amplitude of P3a was attenuated for the older adults but not for the  younger adults. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that during the working memory  manipulation older adults were able to engage working memory to reduce the  processing of task-irrelevant sounds.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2318",
doi="10.1186/s12877-020-01909-w",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01909-w"
}