Healthy aging delays and dedifferentiates high-level visual representations

Abstract Healthy aging impacts visual information processing with consequences for subsequent high-level cognition and everyday behavior, but the underlying neural changes in visual representations remain unknown. Here, we investigate the nature of representations underlying object recognition in older compared to younger adults by tracking them in time using EEG, across space using fMRI, and by probing their behavioral relevance using similarity judgements. Applying a multivariate analysis framework to combine experimental assessments, four key findings about how brain aging impacts object recognition emerge. First, aging selectively delays the formation of object representations, profoundly changing the chronometry of visual processing. Second, the delay in the formation of object representations emerges in high-level rather than low- and mid-level ventral visual cortex, supporting the theory that brain areas developing last deteriorate first. Third, aging reduces content selectivity in high-level ventral visual cortex, indicating age-related neural dedifferentiation as the mechanism of representational change. Finally, we demonstrate that the identified representations of the aging brain are behaviorally relevant, ascertaining ecological relevance. Together, our results reveal the impact of healthy aging on the visual brain.