Reduced Ability to Detect Facial Configuration in Middle-Aged and Elderly Individuals: Associations With Spatiotemporal Visual Processing

Daniel Norton, Ryan McBain and Yue Chen

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2009, vol. 64B, issue 3, 328-334

Abstract: Visual sensitivity decreases with age, and this presumably has an impact on face recognition. However, the relationship between aging in basic visual processing and in the sensory and cognitive mechanisms mediating face recognition is not well understood. Face detection, a foundational step in recognizing faces, relies primarily on sensory information. This study measured the ability to detect facial configuration and contrast detection in young (<40 years), middle--aged (40--59 years), and elderly adults (>59 years). Performance on both face detection and contrast detection was moderately degraded in the middle-aged group compared with the young group and was further degraded in elderly adults. Face detection was correlated strongly with contrast sensitivities, but only weakly with verbal IQ. The results suggest that face detection ability begins to reduce in early aging, and is associated with spatiotemporal visual processing. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2009
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The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

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