Executive function and high ambiguity perceptual discrimination contribute to individual differences in mnemonic discrimination in older adults

Mnemonic discrimination deficits, or impaired ability to discriminate between similar events in memory, is a hallmark of cognitive ageing, characterised by a stark age-related increase in false recognition. While individual differences in mnemonic discrimination have gained attention due to potential relevance for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), our understanding of the component processes that contribute to variability in task performance across older adults remains limited. The present investigation explores the roles of representational quality, indexed by perceptual discrimination of objects and scenes with overlapping features, and strategic retrieval ability, indexed by standardized tests of executive function, to mnemonic discrimination in a large cohort of older adults (N=124). We took an individual differences approach and characterised the contributions of these factors to performance under Forced Choice (FC) and Yes/No (YN) recognition memory formats, which place different demands on strategic retrieval. Performance in both test formats declined with age. Accounting for age, individual differences in FC memory performance were best explained by perceptual discrimination score, whereas YN memory performance was best explained by executive functions. A dominance analysis confirmed the relatively greater importance of perceptual discrimination over executive functioning for FC performance, while the opposite was true for YN. These findings highlight parallels between perceptual and mnemonic discrimination in aging, the importance of considering demands on executive functions in the context of mnemonic discrimination, and the relevance of test format for modulating the impact of these factors on performance in older adults.

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Executive function and high ambiguity perceptual discrimination contribute to individual differences in mnemonic discrimination in older adults

10.31234/osf.io/kvqb7 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Helena Gellersen ◽

Alexandra N. Trelle ◽

Richard Henson ◽

Jon Simons

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Standardized Tests ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Perceptual Discrimination ◽

Age Related ◽

Component Processes ◽

The Impact

Mnemonic discrimination deficits, or impaired ability to discriminate between similar events in memory, is a hallmark of cognitive ageing, characterised by a stark age-related increase in false recognition. While individual differences in mnemonic discrimination have gained attention due to potential relevance for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), our understanding of the component processes that contribute to variability in task performance across older adults remains limited. The present investigation explores the roles of representational quality, indexed by perceptual discrimination of objects and scenes with overlapping features, and strategic retrieval ability, indexed by standardized tests of executive function, to mnemonic discrimination in a large cohort of older adults (N=124). We took an individual differences approach and characterised the contributions of these factors to performance under Forced Choice (FC) and Yes/No (YN) recognition memory formats, which place different demands on strategic retrieval. Performance in both test formats declined with age. Accounting for age, individual differences in FC memory performance were best explained by perceptual discrimination score, whereas YN memory performance was best explained by executive functions. A dominance analysis confirmed the relatively greater importance of perceptual discrimination over executive functioning for FC performance, while the opposite was true for YN. These findings highlight parallels between perceptual and mnemonic discrimination in aging, the importance of considering demands on executive functions in the context of mnemonic discrimination, and the relevance of test format for modulating the impact of these factors on performance in older adults.

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Individual Differences in Executive Function Modulate Bilingual Between-Language Activation during Reading in Healthy Older Adults: Evidence from Eye-tracking

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.09.157 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 35-36

Author(s):

Irina Pivneva ◽

Aruna Sudarshan ◽

Julie Mercier ◽

Shari Baum ◽

Debra Titone

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Language Activation

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Declarative memory, but not executive function, is associated with temporal discounting in older adults

10.31234/osf.io/vb743 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Karolina Maria Lempert ◽

David A. Wolk ◽

Joe Kable

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Declarative Memory ◽

Temporal Discounting ◽

Risky Choice ◽

Semantic Fluency ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Trade Offs

People often make decisions involving trade-offs between smaller immediate and larger delayed rewards. In intertemporal choices such as these, individuals tend to discount the value of future rewards, a tendency known as temporal discounting. Most people exhibit some degree of temporal discounting, but the rate at which people discount future rewards varies widely. Two neurocognitive systems have been proposed as potential candidates for mediating individual differences in discounting: executive function and declarative memory. Both of these functions decline as people age, at rates that vary across individuals. Here we leverage this variability in cognitive abilities among older adults (both cognitively normal and with mild cognitive impairment, MCI) to investigate associations between temporal discounting and executive function versus declarative memory. We find that neuropsychological measures of declarative memory (episodic memory retrieval and semantic fluency), but not executive function (Trail Making Test and lexical fluency), are associated with temporal discounting. People with better memory discount delayed rewards less. Consistent with this, individuals diagnosed with MCI show steeper discount rates compared to cognitively normal older adults. In contrast, executive function, but not declarative memory, is associated with the extent to which an individual is risk-neutral, or expected-value maximizing, in a risky choice task. These findings elucidate the inconsistent literature on aging and economic preferences, and they suggest that distinct neural systems mediate individual differences in the risk and time domain.

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