ArticleBMC geriatrics2020
Does working memory protect against auditory distraction in older adults?
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Doing the math: detection and neural processing of auditory task-unrelated stimuli while solving arithmetic tasks.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Event-related potential evidence that working memory whether inside or outside a virtual reality environment can reduce the extent of attention capture by irrelevant novel stimuli.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Individual Differences in the Impact of Distracting Environmental Sounds on the Performance of a Continuous Visual Task in Older Adults.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Using mobile EEG to study auditory work strain during simulated surgical procedures.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The effects of visual working memory load on detection and neural processing of task-unrelated auditory stimuli.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPast 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.
methodWe 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%).
resultsIt 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.
conclusionsThese results suggest that during the working memory manipulation older adults were able to engage working memory to reduce the processing of task-irrelevant sounds.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.