Age-Related Reversals in Neural Recruitment across Memory Retrieval Phases

Ford, Jaclyn H.; Kensinger, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0521-17.2017

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…This pattern is consistent with recent findings demonstrating that age-related increases in prefrontal recruitment are greater during search relative to elaboration (Ford & Kensinger, in press ). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…These results suggest that valence-related effects may also differ across the retrieval trial in the current study. A second analysis has demonstrated unique effects of age on neural recruitment during search and elaboration, with some regions exhibiting a complete reversal in the relation between age and activity during the two phases of successful memory retrieval (Ford and Kensinger, in press ). Therefore, the current analysis takes advantage of the extended retrieval period to compare critical age-by-valence-by-vividness effects in the search and elaboration phases of episodic memory retrieval.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prefrontally-mediated alterations in the retrieval of negative events: Links to memory vividness across the adult lifespan

Ford

Kensinger

2017

Neuropsychologia

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Prior research has identified age-by-valence interactions in both behavior and neural recruitment; age has been associated with increased retrieval of positive relative to negative information as well as an increased tendency to recruit prefrontal regions during negative event retrieval and for this recruitment to correspond to decreased hippocampal connectivity. To date, the explicit relation between prefrontal recruitment and memory phenomenology has not been examined. The current study examined the link between these two measures by examining age-by-valence interactions in the relation between prefrontal recruitment and subjective ratings of memory vividness. Participants (ages 18–85) encoded visual images paired with verbal titles. During a scanned retrieval session, they were presented with titles and asked whether each had been seen with an image during encoding. Participants provided vividness ratings following retrieval of each image. Age was associated with greater prefrontally-mediated alterations in negative event phenomenology, with age-related increases in the relation between ventral prefrontal regions and negative event vividness and age-related decreases in the relation between dorsal prefrontal regions and negative event vividness. This analysis confirmed a critical role of PFC regions in age-by-valence interactions, where age reversed the relation between PFC recruitment and the subjective richness of retrieved memory representation. These findings are consistent with studies that reveal age-related enhancements in emotion regulation, and suggest that older adults may be engaging in these processes during retrieval of negative events.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefrontally-mediated alterations in the retrieval of negative events: Links to memory vividness across the adult lifespan

Ford

Kensinger

2017

Neuropsychologia

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“…The only comparison that provided 692 some support for a relative increase in anterior contribution was for multivariate information 693 about load in the STM experiment. Thus the direction of any relative shift in reliance on PFC 694 versus PVC with age seems to be task-dependent, as opposed to the task-general posterior-695 to-anterior shift claimed by PASA (Davis et al, 2008; see also Ford and Kensinger, 2017). 696 This is consistent with other meta-analyses, which have found age-related decreases as well 697 as increases in activation, depending on the task (Spreng, Wojtowicz, & Grady, 2010;Li et al, 698 2015).…”

supporting

confidence: 65%

Increased prefrontal activity with aging reflects nonspecific neural responses rather than compensation

Morcom

Henson

2017

Preprint

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20Elevated prefrontal cortex activity is often observed in healthy older adults despite declines in 21 their memory and other cognitive functions. According to one view, this activity reflects a 22 compensatory functional posterior-to-anterior shift, which contributes to maintenance of 23 cognitive performance when posterior cortical function is impaired. Alternatively, the increased 24 prefrontal activity may be less efficient or less specific, owing to structural and neurochemical 25 changes accompanying aging. These accounts are difficult to distinguish on the basis of 26 average activity levels within brain regions. Instead, we used a novel model-based multivariate 27 analysis technique, applied to two independent functional magnetic resonance imaging 28 datasets from an adult-lifespan human sample (N=123 and N=115; approximately half 29 female). Standard analysis replicated the age-related increase in average prefrontal 30 activation, but multivariate tests revealed that this activity did not carry additional information. 31The results contradict the hypothesis of a compensatory posterior-to-anterior shift. Instead, 32 they suggest that the increased prefrontal activation reflects reduced efficiency or specificity, 33 rather than compensation. 34Significance statement 35 Functional brain imaging studies have often shown increased activity in prefrontal brain 36 regions in older adults. This has been proposed to reflect a compensatory shift to greater 37 reliance on prefrontal cortex, helping to maintain cognitive function. Alternatively, activity may 38 become less specific as people age. This is a key question in the neuroscience of aging. In 39 this study, we used novel tests of how different brain regions contribute to long-and short-40 term memory. We found increased activity in prefrontal cortex in older adults, but this activity 41 carried less information about memory outcomes than activity in visual regions. These findings 42 are relevant for understanding why cognitive abilities decline with age, suggesting that optimal 43 function depends on successful brain maintenance rather than compensation. 44 45 46 47 48 49

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“…The only comparison that provided some support for a relative increase in anterior contribution was for multivariate information about load in the STM experiment. Therefore, the direction of any relative shift in reliance on PFC versus PVC with age seems to be task-dependent, as opposed to the task-general posterior-to-anterior shift claimed by PASA ( Davis et al, 2008 ; see also Ford and Kensinger, 2017 ). This is consistent with other meta-analyses finding age-related decreases as well as increases in activation, depending on the task ( Spreng et al, 2010 ; Li et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Increased Prefrontal Activity with Aging Reflects Nonspecific Neural Responses Rather than Compensation

2018

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Elevated prefrontal cortex activity is often observed in healthy older adults despite declines in their memory and other cognitive functions. According to one view, this activity reflects a compensatory functional posterior-to-anterior shift, which contributes to maintenance of cognitive performance when posterior cortical function is impaired. Alternatively, the increased prefrontal activity may be less efficient or less specific because of structural and neurochemical changes accompanying aging. These accounts are difficult to distinguish on the basis of average activity levels within brain regions. Instead, we used a novel, model-based multivariate analysis technique applied to two independent fMRI datasets from an adult-lifespan human sample (N = 123 and N = 115; approximately half female). Standard analysis replicated the age-related increase in average prefrontal activation, but multivariate tests revealed that this activity did not carry additional information. The results contradict the hypothesis of a compensatory posterior-to-anterior shift. Instead, they suggest that the increased prefrontal activation reflects reduced efficiency or specificity rather than compensation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Functional brain imaging studies have often shown increased activity in prefrontal brain regions in older adults. This has been proposed to reflect a compensatory shift to greater reliance on prefrontal cortex (PFC), helping to maintain cognitive function. Alternatively, activity may become less specific as people age. This is a key question in the neuroscience of aging. In this study, we used novel tests of how different brain regions contribute to long- and short-term memory. We found increased activity in PFC in older adults, but this activity carried less information about memory outcomes than activity in visual regions. These findings are relevant for understanding why cognitive abilities decline with age, suggesting that optimal function depends on successful brain maintenance rather than compensation.

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Age-Related Reversals in Neural Recruitment across Memory Retrieval Phases

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Prefrontally-mediated alterations in the retrieval of negative events: Links to memory vividness across the adult lifespan

Prefrontally-mediated alterations in the retrieval of negative events: Links to memory vividness across the adult lifespan

Increased prefrontal activity with aging reflects nonspecific neural responses rather than compensation

Increased Prefrontal Activity with Aging Reflects Nonspecific Neural Responses Rather than Compensation

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