Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Program

Cognitive Neuroscience

Advisor

Valerie Shafer

Subject Categories

Cognitive Neuroscience | Cognitive Science | Neurosciences

Keywords

N200, EEG, P300, Bilingualism, Inhibition, Cognitive Control

Abstract

Research suggests that as we get older, executive function abilities decline (Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Salthouse, 1996). One affected ability is that of inhibitory control, which aids in monitoring our responses to non-target stimuli or information. Current research on inhibition reveals inconsistencies across studies. Monitoring brain responses during the Flanker (used to measure inhibitory control) task may add valuable insight into the processes underlying group differences behaviorally, by studying the N200 and P300 event-related potentials which have been associated with inhibitory control processes. This study investigated whether there are differences between older and younger adults in inhibitory control and whether there was an effect of language (bilingualism). In this study, participants completed the Flanker task while their brain activity was monitored via EEG. The behavioral data results show that older adults have longer reaction times, regardless of condition. The results also show that speaking more than one language decreased reaction times for the older adults whereas the opposite was seen for the younger adults. No significant effect of age, condition or language was found for the N2 contrary to my predictions. Significant effects of age and condition were found for the P3b ERP component, which is believed to reflect attentional and memory processes during task performance.

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