A drift diffusion model analysis of age-related impact on multisensory decision-making processes

Bolam, Joshua and Diaz, Jessica A. and Andrews, Mark and Coats, Rachel O. and Philiastides, Marios G. and Astill, Sarah L. and Delis, Ioannis (2024) A drift diffusion model analysis of age-related impact on multisensory decision-making processes. Scientific Reports, 14 (1). ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

Older adults (OAs) are typically slower and/or less accurate in forming perceptual choices relative to younger adults. Despite perceptual deficits, OAs gain from integrating information across senses, yielding multisensory benefits. However, the cognitive processes underlying these seemingly discrepant ageing effects remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, 212 participants (18–90 years old) performed an online object categorisation paradigm, whereby age-related differences in Reaction Times (RTs) and choice accuracy between audiovisual (AV), visual (V), and auditory (A) conditions could be assessed. Whereas OAs were slower and less accurate across sensory conditions, they exhibited greater RT decreases between AV and V conditions, showing a larger multisensory benefit towards decisional speed. Hierarchical Drift Diffusion Modelling (HDDM) was fitted to participants’ behaviour to probe age-related impacts on the latent multisensory decision formation processes. For OAs, HDDM demonstrated slower evidence accumulation rates across sensory conditions coupled with increased response caution for AV trials of higher difficulty. Notably, for trials of lower difficulty we found multisensory benefits in evidence accumulation that increased with age, but not for trials of higher difficulty, in which increased response caution was instead evident. Together, our findings reconcile age-related impacts on multisensory decision-making, indicating greater multisensory evidence accumulation benefits with age underlying enhanced decisional speed.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41598-024-65549-5
Dates:	Date Event 20 June 2024 Accepted 28 June 2024 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ageing, Perceptual decision-making, Multisensory decision-making, Audiovisual object categorisation paradigm, Hierarchical drift diffusion model(ling) (HDDM)
Subjects:	CAH04 - psychology > CAH04-01 - psychology > CAH04-01-01 - psychology (non-specific)
Divisions:	Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Psychology
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2024 12:03
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2024 12:03
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16038

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