Aging and visual processing: Declines in spatial not temporal integration

• Published in: Vision research (Oxford) Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 109 - 118
• Main Authors: Andersen, George J., Ni, Rui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 2008; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Aging - physiology; Aging - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Female; Form Perception - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Motion perception; Motion Perception - physiology; Perceptual Masking - physiology; Photic Stimulation - methods; Shape perception; Spatial integration; Temporal integration; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Visual Acuity; Aging; Temporal integration; Shape perception; Spatial integration; Motion perception; Stimulus shape; Senescence; Stimulus movement; Vision; Perception; Cognition
• ISSN: 0042-6989; 1878-5646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2007.10.026

Age-related declines in vision are well documented in the literature. In the present study we examined whether changes in spatial or temporal integration contribute to this decline. Younger (mean age of 21) and older (mean age of 745) subjects were asked to identify 2D shapes based on kinetic occlusion information---the accretion and deletion of texture during motion. The results of the first experiment indicated age-related decrements in spatial but not temporal integration. In the second experiment we manipulated the lifetime of motion stimuli to more directly examine temporal integration. The results indicated no differential effect of age on temporal integration. The results considered together suggest age related changes in recovering 2D shape from occlusion are the result of spatial but not temporal integration. Age-related changes in neural inhibition and ACh for regulating spatial integration are proposed as possible mechanisms for this decline.