scholarly journals Perceptual Versus Conceptual Value-Directed Strategic Processing in Younger and Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 714-715
Author(s):  
Lydia Nguyen ◽  
Elizabeth Lydon ◽  
Raksha Mudar
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Strategic Processing ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Subsequent Recall ◽  
Processing Information ◽  
Group Information ◽  
Letter Case ◽  
Task Types

Abstract Value-directed strategic processing involves selectively attending to and processing information deemed more important while ignoring or inhibiting less important information. What we selectively attend to can be driven by the value we ascribe to the information, often based on stimulus factors such as perceptual features that make the information stand out, or conceptual features that make it easy to group information. The current study investigated whether behavioral measures of value-directed strategic processing are differentially affected when value is defined by perceptual versus conceptual features, and how normal cognitive aging impacts processing. Cognitively normal younger (N = 16; mean age: 22.1 ± 2.9 years) and older adults (N = 16; mean age: 66.9 ± 7.3 years) completed two value-directed strategic processing tasks, where value was defined by either perceptual (i.e., uppercase and lowercase letters; Letter Case task) or conceptual (i.e., animals and household items; Categories task) features. Both groups had higher recall on the Categories task compared to the Letter Case task, and higher recall for high- than low-value words. However, older adults recalled fewer total words than younger adults, but the groups did not differ across task types. These findings indicate that manipulating perceptual and/or conceptual features to define value can be used to study value-directed strategic processing in younger and older adults. Furthermore, grouping information based on conceptual features may be more effective for promoting subsequent recall in both younger and older adults.

scholarly journals EEG Measures of Value-Directed Strategic Processing in Older Adults With and Without Mild Cognitive Impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 292-293
Author(s):  
Lydia Nguyen ◽  
Shraddha Shende ◽  
Daniel Llano ◽  
Raksha Mudar
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Spectral Power ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Strategic Processing ◽  
Unique Word

Abstract Value-directed strategic processing is important for daily functioning. It allows selective processing of important information and inhibition of irrelevant information. This ability is relatively preserved in normal cognitive aging, but it is unclear if mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects strategic processing and its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. The current study examined behavioral and EEG spectral power differences between 16 cognitively normal older adults (CNOA; mean age: 74.5 ± 4.0 years) and 16 individuals with MCI (mean age: 77.1 ± 4.3 years) linked to a value-directed strategic processing task. The task used five unique word lists where words were assigned high- or low-value based on letter case and were presented sequentially while EEG was recorded. Participants were instructed to recall as many words as possible after each list to maximize their score. Results revealed no group differences in recall of low-value words, but individuals with MCI recalled significantly fewer high-value words and total number of words relative to CNOA. Group differences were observed in theta and alpha bands for low-value words, with greater synchronized theta power for CNOA than MCI and greater desynchronized alpha power for MCI than CNOA. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that more effortful neural processing of low-value words in the MCI group, relative to the CNOA group, allowed them to match their behavioral performance to the CNOA group. Individuals with MCI appear to utilize more cognitive resources to inhibit low-value information and might show memory-related benefits if taught strategies to focus on high-value information processing.

scholarly journals Searching for the Past: Exploring the Dynamics of Direct and Generative Autobiographical Memory Reconstruction Among Young and Cognitively Normal Older Adults

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Anne Ladd Wank ◽  
Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna ◽  
Matthew D. Grilli
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Specific Detail ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
The Past ◽  
Overgeneral Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Age Related

Episodic autobiographical memories (EAMs) can come to mind through two retrieval routes, one direct (i.e., an EAM is retrieved almost instantaneously) and the other generative (i.e., by using autobiographical/general knowledge to cue an EAM). It is well established that normal cognitive aging is associated with a reduction in the retrieval of EAMs, but the contributions of direct or generative reconstruction to the age-related shift toward general memories remain unknown. Prior studies also have not clarified whether similar cognitive mechanisms facilitate the ability to successfully reconstruct EAMs and elaborate them in event-specific detail. To address these gaps in knowledge, young and older participants were asked to reconstruct EAMs using a “think-aloud” paradigm and then describe in detail a subset of retrieved memories. An adapted scoring procedure was implemented to categorize memories accessed during reconstruction, and the Autobiographical Interview (AI) scoring procedure was utilized for elaboration scoring. Results indicated that in comparison to young adults, older adults not only engaged in direct retrieval less often than young adults, but they also more often ended generative retrieval at general events instead of EAMs. The ability to elaborate EAMs with internal details was positively associated with the ability to use generative retrieval to reconstruct EAMs in both young and older adults, but there was no relationship between internal detail elaboration and direct retrieval in either age group. Taken together, these results indicate age-related differences in direct and generative retrieval contribute to overgeneral autobiographical memory and they support a connection between generative retrieval and elaboration.

scholarly journals Cerebral aging: integration of brain and behavioral models of cognitive function

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-165 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Behavioral Models ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Behavioral Measures

There are substantial declines in behavioral measures of cognitive function with age, including decreased function of executive processes and long-term memory. There is also evidence that, with age, there is a decrease in brain volume, particularly in the frontal cortex. When young and older adults perform cognitive tasks that depend heavily on frontal function, neuroimaging evidence indicates that older adults recruit additional brain regions in order to perform the tasks. This additional neural recruitment is termed "dedifferentiation," and can take multiple forms. This recruitment of additional neural tissue with age to perform cognitive tasks was not reflected in the behavioral literature, and suggests that there is more plasticity in the ability to organize brain function than was previously suspected. We review both behavioral and neuroscience perspectives on cognitive aging, and then connect the findings in the two areas. From this integration, we suggest important unresolved questions and directions for future research.

Investigating EEG theta and alpha oscillations as measures of value-directed strategic processing in cognitively normal younger and older adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 391 ◽  
pp. 112702
Author(s):  
Lydia T. Nguyen ◽  
Francesco Marini ◽  
Shraddha A. Shende ◽  
Daniel A. Llano ◽  
Raksha A. Mudar
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Strategic Processing ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Alpha Oscillations

Activity Engagement in Cognitive Aging: A Review of the Evidence

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Rogalski ◽  
Muriel Quintana
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Activity Engagement ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

The population of older adults is rapidly increasing, as is the number and type of products and interventions proposed to prevent or reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline. Advocacy and prevention are part of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA’s) scope of practice documents, and speech-language pathologists must have basic awareness of the evidence contributing to healthy cognitive aging. In this article, we provide a brief overview outlining the evidence on activity engagement and its effects on cognition in older adults. We explore the current evidence around the activities of eating and drinking with a discussion on the potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, alcohol, and coffee. We investigate the evidence on the hypothesized neuroprotective effects of social activity, the evidence on computerized cognitive training, and the emerging behavioral and neuroimaging evidence on physical activity. We conclude that actively aging using a combination of several strategies may be our best line of defense against cognitive decline.

Slow Down You’re Moving Too Fast

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Lang ◽  
Nancy Schwartz ◽  
Sharon Mayell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The Difference

The study reported here compared how younger and older adults processed the same set of media messages which were selected to vary on two factors, arousing content and valence. Results showed that older and younger adults had similar arousal responses but different patterns of attention and memory. Older adults paid more attention to all messages than did younger adults. However, this attention did not translate into greater memory. Older and younger adults had similar levels of memory for slow-paced messages, but younger adults outperformed older adults significantly as pacing increased, and the difference was larger for arousing compared with calm messages. The differences found are in line with predictions made based on the cognitive-aging literature.

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