Neural attentional filters and behavioural outcome follow independent individual trajectories over the adult life span

Abstract

Preserved communication abilities promote healthy aging. To this end, the age-typical loss of sensory acuity might in part be compensated for by an individual’s preserved attentional neural filtering. Is such a compensatory brain–behaviour link longitudinally stable? Can it predict individual change in listening behaviour? We here show that individual listening behaviour and neural filtering ability follow largely independent developmental trajectories modelling electroencephalographic and behavioural data of N = 105 aging individuals (39–82 yrs). First, despite the expected decline in hearing- threshold–derived sensory acuity, listening-task performance proved stable over 2 years. Second, neural filtering and behaviour were correlated only within each separate measurement timepoint (T1, T2). Longitudinally, however, our results raise caution on attention-guided neural filtering metrics as predictors of individual trajectories in listening behaviour: Neither neural filtering at T1 nor its two-year change could predict individual two-year behavioural change, under a combination of modelling strategies.