Age-related directional asymmetry in the rod-and-frame test

We propose that aging affects RFT performance through two dissociable mechanisms. A general decline in multisensory integration increases overall errors symmetrically across tilt angles. The clockwise-specific asymmetry, by contrast, may reflect age-related changes in lateralized visuospatial attention-specifically, the well-documented rightward attentional shift that accompanies healthy aging-which differentially affects the weighting of visual cues for clockwise vs. counterclockwise frame orientations.