Spatial orienting of attention in adult and aged rhesus monkeys.

Aging produces changes in a variety of neural systems that result in a distinct neuropsychological profile of cognitive deficits. To determine the extent of functional decline in cognition with aging, the authors assessed attentional ability in adult (10–15 yr old) and aged (28–33 yr old) rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in 3 experiments, using a paradigm adapted from M. I. Posner et al (1984), in which a peripheral cue indicates the probable location of a target. Orienting of attention was not disrupted in aged monkeys. Response times of aged monkeys were comparable with adult monkeys' both in the attention task and in a simple reaction time task. These results suggest that the neural systems that subserve spatial orienting of attention remain intact in aged nonhuman primates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)