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Background:

The study of reaction time (RT) and its intraindividual variability (IIV) in aging, cognitive impairment, and dementia typically fails to investigate the processing stages that contribute to an overall response. Applying “mental chronometry” techniques makes it possible to separately assess the role of processing components during environmental interaction.

Objective:

To determine whether RT and IIV-decomposition techniques can shed light on the nature of underlying deficits in subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Using a novel iPad task, we examined whether VCI deficits occur during both initiation and movement phases of a response, and whether they are equally reflected in both RT and IIV.

Methods:

Touch cancellation RT and its IIV were measured in a group of younger adults (n= 22), cognitively healthy older adults (n= 21), and patients with VCI (n= 21) using an iPad task.

Results …