| Abstract: | Cognitive and sensory function are correlated in older adults. Sensory function may provide an index of neurological integrity (common-cause hypothesis). Declining sensory input may also directly impair cognition (direct-cause hypothesis). Accordingly, sensory function should more strongly predict cognitive performance and should account for more age-related variability in tasks with higher sensory demands. In a cross-sectional adult life span sample, visual contrast sensitivity was a better predictor and accounted for more of the age-related variability in high sensory-demand tasks, compared with low sensory-demand tasks, consistent with the direct-cause hypothesis. The results suggest a direct role for sensory function in cognitive aging when task conditions place heavy demands on sensory processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
