Much of our daily life functioning critically depends on how well we adjust our behaviour to an ever-changing environment including adjustments to our own errors. Current models of cognitive control distinguish two separate mechanisms involved in such response strategies, an evaluative component detecting conflicts and errors, and a regulative component that subsequently adjusts the level of control depending on the evaluation outcome. It has been argued that cognitive decline with increasing age might be associated with changes in either of these components.

For my PhD, supervised by Dr. Ines Jentzsch, I will investigate more closely such age-related changes in cognitive control using both behavioural and electrophysiological measures.