Effects of age, gender, and education on task performance and prefrontal cortex processing during emotional and non-emotional verbal fluency tests

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1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The emotional semantic fluency test (SFT) is an emerging verbal fluency test that requires controlled access to emotional lexical information. Currently, how demographic variables influence neurocognitive processing during this test remains elusive. The present study compared the effects of age, gender, and education on task performance and prefrontal cortex (PFC) processing during the non-emotional and emotional SFTs. One-hundred and thirty-three Cantonese-speaking adults aged 18–79 performed the non-emotional and emotional SFTs while their PFC activation was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Results showed that more education predicted better non-emotional SFT performance, whereas younger age, being female, and more education predicted better emotional SFT performance. Only age significantly affected PFC activation during the SFTs, and the effect was comparable between the two SFTs. Thus, compared with its non-emotional analog, the emotional SFT is influenced by overlapping yet distinct demographic variables. There is a similar age-related reorganization of PFC function across SFT performances. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105325
JournalBrain and Language
Volume245
Early online dateSept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023

Citation

Yeung, M. K. (2023). Effects of age, gender, and education on task performance and prefrontal cortex processing during emotional and non-emotional verbal fluency tests. Brain and Language, 245, Article 105325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105325

Keywords

  • Verbal fluency
  • Emotion
  • Demographic
  • Prefrontal cortex
  • Functional near-infrared spectroscopy

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