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Abstract
Aging is associated with deficits in the ability to ignore distractions, which has
not yet been remediated by any neurotherapeutic approach. Here, in parallel auditory
experiments with older rats and humans, we evaluated a targeted cognitive training
approach that adaptively manipulated distractor challenge. Training resulted in enhanced
discrimination abilities in the setting of irrelevant information in both species
that was driven by selectively diminished distraction-related errors. Neural responses
to distractors in auditory cortex were selectively reduced in both species, mimicking
the behavioral effects. Sensory receptive fields in trained rats exhibited improved
spectral and spatial selectivity. Frontal theta measures of top-down engagement with
distractors were selectively restrained in trained humans. Finally, training gains
generalized to group and individual level benefits in aspects of working memory and
sustained attention. Thus, we demonstrate converging cross-species evidence for training-induced
selective plasticity of distractor processing at multiple neural scales, benefitting
distractor suppression and cognitive control.