Age-related differences in orienting attention to sound object representations

We examined the effect of age on listeners’ ability to orient attention to an item in auditory short-term memory (ASTM) using high-density electroencephalography, while participants completed a delayed match-to-sample task. During the retention interval, an uninformative or an informative visual retro-cue guided attention to an item in ASTM. Informative cues speeded response times, but only for young adults. In young adults, informative retro-cues generated greater event-related potential amplitude between 450 and 650 ms at parietal sites, and an increased sustained potential over the left central scalp region, thought to index the deployment of attention and maintenance of the cued item in ASTM, respectively. Both modulations were reduced in older adults. Alpha and low beta oscillatory power suppression was greater when the retro-cue was informative than uninformative, especially in young adults. Our results point toward an age-related decline in orienting attention to the cued item in ASTM. Older adults may be dividing their attention between all items in working memory rather than selectively focusing attention on a single cued item.