Effects of Age Differences in Memory Formation on Neural Mechanisms of Consolidation and Retrieval

Sander, Myriam C.; Fandakova, Yana; Werkle‐Bergner, Markus

doi:10.31234/osf.io/84nve

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 147 publications

(206 reference statements)

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“…Developmental differences in memory abilities are accompanied by age-dependent changes in the underlying brain structures and functions during maturation and senescence (Li et al, 2004; Ofen and Shing, 2013; Sander et al, 2020a; Shing et al, 2010; Van Petten, 2004). Specifically, functional differences during encoding may influence the specificity of mnemonic contents and may thus account for performance differences across the lifespan (Bowman et al, 2019; Fandakova et al, 2019; Morcom, 2015; Park et al, 2013; Sander et al, 2020b). In line with this, studies measuring neural specificity as the discriminability of BOLD activation patterns have shown a positive relation between the specificity of these patterns during encoding and memory performance in young and older adults (Kobelt et al, 2020; Koen et al, 2019) as well as in children (aged 7–12 years, (Fandakova et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan

Sommer¹,

Mount

Weigelt

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Our memories depend on our brain's ability to form internal representations of relevant aspects of the world that can later be retrieved. The specificity with which past experiences can be remembered varies across the lifespan, possibly due to differences in how precisely information is encoded. This memory formation can be investigated through repetition effects, the common finding that neural activity is altered (suppressed or enhanced) when stimuli are repeated. However, whether differences in this indirect measure of memory formation relate to lifespan age differences in memory specificity has not yet been established. In the present study, we examined repetition effects in event-related potentials and their relation to recognition specificity. During incidental encoding, children (aged 7-9 years), young adults (18-30 years), and older adults (65-76 years) viewed repeated object images from different categories. During subsequent recognition, old, similar, and new objects were presented, allowing for a differentiation of memory for the specific item versus the general category. We identified neural repetition suppression effects in all age groups, and repetition enhancement for adults. Furthermore, individual item recognition performance comprising lure discrimination was positively associated with the magnitude of the neural repetition effects. These brain-behavior associations did not differ between age groups, indicating common neural mechanisms of memory formation. In sum, our findings demonstrate that neural repetition effects reflect encoding mechanisms that facilitate the formation of highly specific memory representations and highlight their significance as a neural indicator of individual differences in episodic memory encoding across the lifespan.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan

Sommer¹,

Mount

Weigelt

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…There was no time limit for answering. Given the known age differences in learning rates and limitations between younger and older individuals, we adjusted for task difficulty between age groups (Sander et al, 2021). Specifically, the older adults took a test every time they learned a block, whereas the younger adults took a test every two blocks.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age Differences in Verbatim and Gist Memory: The Effect of Acute Inhibitory Function Intervention

2024

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Age-related deficits in associative memory are primarily restricted to verbatim memory rather than gist memory. This is thought to be caused by a decrease in the ability to ignore irrelevant information. Research on attentional distraction has suggested that verbatim memory is more susceptible to interference than gist memory in older adults. It is yet to be determined how different types of interfering information directly affects verbatim and gist memory, as well as if an inhibition intervention can improve memory in older adults . In Experiment 1, eighty participants (40 younger and 40 older adults) studied scene-word pairs while attempting to inhibit the effects of interfering words during encoding.. An immediate associative recognition memory test was performed, followed by a modified Stroop task to measure their inhibitory function . Experiment 2 included sixty-six older adults, who were randomly assigned to either an inhibitory function intervention or control group. The Flanker task was employed for the acute inhibitory function intervention and eye-tracking technology was utilized to record eye movement indicators. The results showed that older adults had worse verbatim memory than younger adults, with no significant difference in gist memory. Additionally, gist memory was less susceptible to gist-related interference. Moreover, older adults in the intervention group had less fixation duration and frequency of the interference region, leading to better verbatim memory. These findings demonstrate age differences and differential interference resistance in verbatim and gist memory, and provide new directions for cognitive interventions to improve memory in older adults.

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“…One of the cognitive domains most vulnerable to age-related deterioration is episodic memory [2][3][4] , the long-term memory that enables us to recollect the spatio-temporal, perceptual, and emotional details that constitute a prior experience 5,6 . Growing evidence suggests a critical component of age-related episodic memory loss to be reduced quality and specificity with which information can be encoded into and retrieved from memory [7][8][9][10] . Recent behavioural studies employing continuous measures of memory performance have demonstrated that even when able to successfully retrieve similar amounts of information about a past event as younger adults, the fidelity, or precision, of the retrieved memories is impoverished in older age 9,11,12 , with such reductions appearing to at least partly arise from differences during longterm memory retrieval 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced memory precision in older age is associated with functional and structural differences in the angular gyrus

Korkki

Richter

Gellersen

et al. 2022

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Growing evidence indicates decreased fidelity of mnemonic representations to play a role in age-related episodic memory deficits, yet the brain mechanisms underlying such reductions remain unexplored. Using functional and structural neuroimaging and a continuous report task we examined how changes in two key nodes of the posterior-medial memory network, the hippocampus and the angular gyrus, might underpin loss of memory precision in older age. An age-related reduction in activity reflecting successful memory retrieval was observed in the hippocampus, whereas activity associated with graded variation in memory precision was decreased in the angular gyrus. Grey matter volume of the angular gyrus further predicted individual differences in memory precision in older age, beyond variation in successful memory retrieval. These findings highlight the importance of functional and structural integrity of the angular gyrus in constraining memory precision in older age, advancing current understanding of hippocampal and parietal contributions to age-related episodic memory decline.

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Effects of Age Differences in Memory Formation on Neural Mechanisms of Consolidation and Retrieval

Cited by 4 publications

References 147 publications

Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan

Memory specificity is linked to repetition effects in event-related potentials across the lifespan

Age Differences in Verbatim and Gist Memory: The Effect of Acute Inhibitory Function Intervention

Reduced memory precision in older age is associated with functional and structural differences in the angular gyrus

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