The impact of ageing and gender on visual mental imagery processes: A study of performance on tasks from the Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery (CVMIB)

Palermo, Liana; Piccardi, Laura; Nori, Raffaella; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

doi:10.1080/13803395.2016.1161735

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…These results are in line with similar studies that report more past than present [86] and future-oriented sTUTs [62]. Finally, younger but not older adults showed more visual than verbal imagery, consistent with an age-related decrease in visual imagery ability [87]. Visual imagery is closely related to episodic specificity (e.g., [88]).…”

Section: Phenomenological Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 90%

The effects of aging and an episodic specificity induction on spontaneous task-unrelated thought

2020

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When voluntarily describing their past or future, older adults typically show a reduction in episodic specificity (e.g., including fewer details reflecting a specific event, time and/or place). However, aging has less impact on other types of tasks that place minimal demands on strategic retrieval such as spontaneous thoughts. In the current study, we investigated age-related differences in the episodic specificity of spontaneous thoughts using experimenter-based coding of thought descriptions. Additionally, we tested whether an episodic specificity induction, which increases episodic detail during deliberate retrieval of events in young and older adults, has the same effect under spontaneous retrieval. Twenty-four younger and 24 healthy older adults performed two counterbalanced sessions including a video, the episodic specificity or control induction, and a vigilance task. In the episodic specificity induction, participants recalled the details of the video while in the control they solved math exercises. The impact of this manipulation on the episodic specificity of spontaneous thoughts was assessed in the subsequent vigilance task, in which participants were randomly stopped to describe their thoughts and classify them as deliberate/spontaneous. We found no differences in episodic specificity between age groups in spontaneous thoughts, supporting the prediction that automatic retrieval attenuates the episodic specificity decrease in aging. The lack of age differences was present regardless of the induction, showing no interactions. For the induction, we also found no main effect, indicating that automatic retrieval bypasses event construction and accesses pre-stored events. Overall, our evidence suggests that spontaneous retrieval is a promising strategy to support episodic specificity in aging.

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Section: Phenomenological Characteristicssupporting

confidence: 90%

The effects of aging and an episodic specificity induction on spontaneous task-unrelated thought

2020

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“…We have previously addressed this question (de Lange et al, ). It could be that known age‐related decline in general processing abilities (Jones et al, ) and mental image manipulation (Palermo, Piccardi, Nori, Giusberti, & Guariglia, ) constricts the successful utilization of the mnemonic strategies. In addition, older participants have shown compliance challenges with strategy training relative to young participants (Verhaeghen & Marcoen, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal cortical and hippocampal prediction of episodic‐memory plasticity in young and older adults

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Rohani

et al. 2018

Human Brain Mapping

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Episodic memory can be trained in both early and late adulthood, but there is considerable variation in cognitive improvement across individuals. Which brain characteristics make some individuals benefit more than others? We used a multimodal approach to investigate whether volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional MRI characteristics of the cortex and hippocampus, brain regions involved in episodic-memory function, were predictive of cognitive improvement after memory training. We hypothesized that these brain characteristics would differentially predict memory improvement in young and older adults, given the vulnerability of cortical regions as well as the hippocampus to healthy aging. Following structural and resting-state activity magnetic resonance scans, 50 young and 76 older participants completed 10 weeks of strategic episodic-memory training. Both age groups improved their memory performance, but the young adults more so than the older. Vertex-wise analyses of cortical volume showed no significant relation to memory benefit. When analyzing the two age groups separately, hippocampal volume was predictive of memory improvement in the group of older participants only. In this age group, the lower resting-state activity of the hippocampus was also predictive of memory improvement. Both volumetric and resting-state characteristics of the hippocampus explained unique variance of the improvement in the older participants suggesting that a multimodal imaging approach is valuable for the understanding of mechanisms underlying memory plasticity in aging.

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“…Some studies indicate that older adults may not be able to utilize mnemonic techniques as efficiently as young adults, due to age‐related decline in general processing resources such as executive functions and processing speed [Jones et al, ]. Mnemonic techniques also rely on the ability to generate and manipulate mental images, which is known to decline with advancing age [Palermo et al, ]. Moreover, evidence suggests that older adults experience greater challenges related to comprehension and compliance in training studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of memory training on behavioral and microstructural plasticity in young and older adults

Lange

Bråthen

Rohani

et al. 2017

Human Brain Mapping

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Age differences in human brain plasticity are assumed, but have not been systematically investigated. In this longitudinal study, we investigated changes in white matter (WM) microstructure in response to memory training relative to passive and active control conditions in 183 young and older adults. We hypothesized that (i) only the training group would show improved memory performance and microstructural alterations, (ii) the young adults would show larger memory improvement and a higher degree of microstructural alterations as compared to the older adults, and (iii) changes in memory performance would relate to microstructural alterations. The results showed that memory improvement was specific to the training group, and that both the young and older participants improved their performance. The young group improved their memory to a larger extent compared to the older group. In the older sample, the training group showed less age‐related decline in WM microstructure compared to the control groups, in areas overlapping the corpus callosum, the cortico‐spinal tract, the cingulum bundle, the superior longitudinal fasciculus, and the anterior thalamic radiation. Less microstructural decline was related to a higher degree of memory improvement. Despite individual adaptation securing sufficient task difficulty, no training‐related group differences in microstructure were found in the young adults. The observed divergence of behavioral and microstructural responses to memory training with age is discussed within a supply‐demand framework. The results demonstrate that plasticity is preserved into older age, and that microstructural alterations may be part of a neurobiological substrate for behavioral improvements in older adults. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5666–5680, 2017. © 2018 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published byWiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The impact of ageing and gender on visual mental imagery processes: A study of performance on tasks from the Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery (CVMIB)

Cited by 16 publications

References 58 publications

The effects of aging and an episodic specificity induction on spontaneous task-unrelated thought

The effects of aging and an episodic specificity induction on spontaneous task-unrelated thought

Multimodal cortical and hippocampal prediction of episodic‐memory plasticity in young and older adults

The effects of memory training on behavioral and microstructural plasticity in young and older adults

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