Hemispheric Lateralization, Gender Differences in the Processing of Rapidly Presented Visual Information

Location

CSU 253

Start Date

25-4-2005 1:15 PM

End Date

25-4-2005 3:15 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Robert Widner

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Description

Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT) is a chronic, progressive disorder that affects 4 million Americans with the number expected to increase several-fold as more people live longer. Differentiating cognitive declines that result from normal aging from declines associated with DAT is important for theoretical as well as practical reasons. The ability to differentiate cognitive declines allows for early detection and intervention; we know that the earlier the intervention the greater the likelihood of a positive outcome (e.g., Widner Adames, & Muller, 1997; Widner, Mueller, & Adames, 1997). Of particular relevance in the present study is the finding that DAT disrupts visual attention (e.g., difficulty in recognizing faces; Parasuraman, Greenwood, Haxby, & Grady, 1992). Widner and colleagues determined that there is an age-related difference in the processing of rapidly presented visual information (e.g., single letters presented at a rate of 90 ms.) with older adults (M • age = 69) taking three times longer to identify such information relative to college students. In the present study we found that the right hemisphere plays a greater role in the processing of rapidly presented information for males than for females. On the other hand when we examined the contribution of the left hemisphere to the processing of rapidly presented information we found no gender difference. The present findings are of particular significance because we can now start to localize the neural structures that may be affected by AD early on in the disease; that is, we may have a way in which we can detect AD before we observe any behavioral changes as a function of the disease.

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Apr 25th, 1:15 PM Apr 25th, 3:15 PM

Hemispheric Lateralization, Gender Differences in the Processing of Rapidly Presented Visual Information

CSU 253

Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT) is a chronic, progressive disorder that affects 4 million Americans with the number expected to increase several-fold as more people live longer. Differentiating cognitive declines that result from normal aging from declines associated with DAT is important for theoretical as well as practical reasons. The ability to differentiate cognitive declines allows for early detection and intervention; we know that the earlier the intervention the greater the likelihood of a positive outcome (e.g., Widner Adames, & Muller, 1997; Widner, Mueller, & Adames, 1997). Of particular relevance in the present study is the finding that DAT disrupts visual attention (e.g., difficulty in recognizing faces; Parasuraman, Greenwood, Haxby, & Grady, 1992). Widner and colleagues determined that there is an age-related difference in the processing of rapidly presented visual information (e.g., single letters presented at a rate of 90 ms.) with older adults (M • age = 69) taking three times longer to identify such information relative to college students. In the present study we found that the right hemisphere plays a greater role in the processing of rapidly presented information for males than for females. On the other hand when we examined the contribution of the left hemisphere to the processing of rapidly presented information we found no gender difference. The present findings are of particular significance because we can now start to localize the neural structures that may be affected by AD early on in the disease; that is, we may have a way in which we can detect AD before we observe any behavioral changes as a function of the disease.

Recommended Citation

Winkelman, Sarah. "Hemispheric Lateralization, Gender Differences in the Processing of Rapidly Presented Visual Information." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 25, 2005.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2005/poster-session-A/9