Electrophysiological differences in older and younger adults’ anaphoric but not cataphoric pronoun processing in the absence of age-related behavioural slowdown

This event-related potentials (ERP) study investigated whether millisecond electrophysiological brain activity and behavioral responses are age-sensitive when comprehending anaphoric (referent-first) and cataphoric (pronoun-first) pronouns. Younger (n=18, aged 19–35) and older (n=15, aged 57–88) French speakers read sentences with gender-matched or mismatched pronouns and referents. Older adults showed no behavioral slowdown or accuracy decrease. Both anaphoric and cataphoric conditions evoked a P600 component with similar timing and amplitude across groups. However, older adults showed an additional anterior negativity for anaphoric mismatches, suggesting compensatory brain activity for increased processing demands in anaphora processing. Verbal short-term memory span modulated P600 amplitude in older, but not younger, adults.

Seçkin Arslan, Katerina Palasis, Fanny Meunier