# Alpha Phase Dynamics Predict Age-Related Visual Working Memory Decline

## TL;DR

The paper shows that changes in brain alpha waves before tasks may explain why older adults have worse visual memory performance.

## Contribution

The study reveals that age-related differences in alpha phase resetting predict working memory performance decline.

## Key findings

- Older adults had less consistent cue-evoked alpha phase resetting compared to younger adults.
- Alpha phase before task stimuli predicted response time, but this link was weaker in older adults.
- Reduced phase resetting in older adults correlated with worse working memory performance.

## Abstract

Alpha oscillations are modulated in response to visual temporal and spatial cues, However, the neural response to alerting cues is less explored, as is how this response is affected by healthy aging. Using scalp EEG, we examined how visual cortical alpha activity relates to working memory performance. Younger (20-30 years) and older (60-70 years) participants were presented with a visual alerting cue uninformative of the position or size of a lateralized working memory array. Older adults showed longer response times overall, and reduced accuracy when memory load was high. Older adults had less consistent cue-evoked phase resetting than younger adults, which predicted worse performance. Alpha phase prior to memory array presentation predicted response time, but the relationship between phase and response time was weaker in older adults. These results suggest that changes in alpha phase dynamics, especially prior to presentation of task-relevant stimuli, potentially contribute to age-related cognitive decline.