Deficit in switching between functional brain networks underlies the impact of multitasking on working memory in older adults.

Multitasking negatively influences the retention of information over brief periods of time. This is exacerbated with normal aging. Clapp and coworkers used functional MRI to investigate the neural basis by which an interruption is more disruptive to working memory performance in older individuals. They found that older adults failed to both disengage from the interruption and reestablish functional connections associated with the disrupted memory network. These results suggest that multitasking leads to more significant working memory disruption in older adults because of an interruption recovery failure, manifest as a deficient ability to dynamically switch between functional brain networks.

Clapp WC, Rubens MT, Sabharwal J, Gazzaley A., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, April 11, 2011, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015297108 [Epub ahead of print].

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/04/1015297108.abstract