Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 16 pp 19996—20015

Figure 1. Predictive model of sensory gating. Conceptual figure denoting the statistical model probed in the current study. Allostatic load (i.e., life stress), relative age acceleration (i.e., biological stress) and their interaction (i.e., cumulative stress) were used to predict the age-related decline in somatosensory gating (response power to stim #2/response power to stim #1). The factors contributing to allostatic load were derived from an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and included depression symptom severity, years of education, self-reported declines in activities of daily living, and BMI. Variables denoted with a red ‘X’ reflect measures that loaded poorly and were not included in the final factor definition for allostatic load. Relative age acceleration was quantified using the residuals from the regression of the “Consensus Model” predicted biological age on chronological age in our sample.