Cognitive control is defined by a set of neural processes that allow us to interact with our complex environment in a goal-directed manner. Humans regularly challenge these control processes when attempting to simultaneously accomplish multiple goals (i.e., multitasking), generating interference as the result of fundamental information processing limitations. It is clear that multitasking behavior has become ubiquitous in today's technologically-dense world, and substantial evidence has accrued regarding multitasking difficulties and cognitive control deficits in our aging population. We show that multitasking performance, as assessed with a custom-designed 3-D video game (NeuroRacer), exhibits a linear age-related decline from 20-79 years of age. In the NeuroRacer game, participants race a car around a winding track while a variety of road signs pop up. Drivers are instructed to keep an eye out for a specific type of sign, while ignoring all the rest, and to press a button whenever that particular sign appears. The need to switch rapidly from driving to responding to the signs - i.e. multitasking - generates interference in the brain that undermines performance. The researchers found that this interference increases dramatically across the adult lifespan but after receiving just 12 hours of training on the game, spread over a month, the 60- to 85-year-old study participants improved their performance until it surpassed that of 20-somethings who played the game for the first time and a group of older adults that had never been exposed to the game. The training also improved the participants' performance in two other important cognitive areas: working memory (i.e., the ability to maintain items in current memory, like preforming a math equation in your head), and sustained attention (i.e., the ability to focus on a task for a long period of time). Participants maintained their skills at the video game six months after the training had ended. These findings highlight the robust plasticity of the prefrontal cognitive control system in the aging brain, and provide the first evidence of how a custom-designed video game can be used to assess cognitive abilities across the lifespan, and serve as a powerful tool for cognitive enhancement. 13. What is the research question? 14. What was the experimental and control group? Why did they choose these groups? 15. Is there another group that you would have added to this experiment?

16. What are 3 main findings and what does it tell you about the aging brain?