Attentional Processes in Mildly Depressed and Non-Depressed Able Elderly

Abstract

This investigation examined how aging and depression impact attentional performance. It was hypothesized that age and depression would have differential effects on attentional performance, depending on task complexity. A model of cognitive aging addressed attentional resources, task complexity, and efficiency of inhibitory processes. The interaction of age and depression was predicted to be more deleterious on performance of complex attentional tasks, than either age or depression alone. The sample was composed of 155 able elderly volunteers of ages 55 to 93. Although both increased age and depression were associated with decreased performance on complex attentional tasks, this interaction did not explain additional variance beyond the main effects. Results revealed mood-related depressive symptoms impact performance of overlearned functions in the younger elderly, while neurovegetative depressive symptoms were related to poorer psychomotor performance of the older elderly. Implications of the findings were discussed related to attention processes and depression in the aging population.

Key Words:

• Attention
• cognition
• memory
• depression in older adults
• task complexity