We identified neural correlates of declined and preserved basic visual attention
functions in aging individuals based on Bundesen’s ‘Theory of Visual Attention’ (TVA). In an inter-individual difference approach, we contrasted electrophysiology of higher- and lower-performing younger and older participants. In both age groups, the same distinct components indexed performance levels of TVA parameters visual processing speed C and visual short-term memory (vSTM) storage capacity K: The posterior N1 marked interindividual differences in C and the contralateral delay activity (CDA) marked inter-individual differences in K. Moreover, both parameters were selectively related to two further ERP waves in older age: The anterior N1 was reduced for older participants with lower processing speed, indicating that age-related loss of attentional resources slows encoding. An enhanced right-central positivity (RCP) was found only for older participants with high storage capacity, suggesting compensatory recruitment for retaining vSTM performance. Together, our results demonstrate that attentional capacity in older age depends on both preservation
and successful reorganization of the underlying brain circuits