scholarly journals Understanding associative false memories in aging using multivariate analyses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Dennis ◽  
Amy A. Overman ◽  
Catherine M. Carpenter ◽  
Courtney R. Gerver
Keyword(s):  
Associative Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
False Memories ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Pattern Similarity ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Parietal Cortices

Associative memory declines in aging arise, in part, from age-related increases in false memories to recombined lures. Studies have shown that there is a benefit to associative memory if the configural context of associative pairs is maintained from encoding to retrieval. The current study aimed to examine whether this benefit of contextual congruency is reduced in aging, and whether the neural similarity of memory representations between targets and lures underlies age- related increases in false memories. Behaviorally, both age groups benefited from target pairs presented in a visual format that was congruent with how the pair was learned. While no age difference was observed in hits, the typical age-related increase in false alarms was found. Congruent with behavioral results, neither the relationship between target-related patterns of neural activity across memory phases (as measured by ERS) nor the discriminability of target classification as a function of condition at retrieval (as measured by MVPA). However, with regard to false memories, older adults exhibited overall lower pattern similarity for hits and FAs compared to hits and CRs (as measured by RSA). Additionally, Hit-FA RSA correlated with age- related increases in associative FAs across visual, frontal, and parietal cortices. Results suggest that while neural processes supporting associative memory retrieval are dependent on configural congruency between encoding and retrieval, there is no difference as to how congruency affects these processes in aging. Additionally, similarity of target and lure processing may reflect reduced diagnosticity of information processing in aging.

scholarly journals Age Differences in the Required Coefficient of Friction During Level Walking Do Not Exist When Experimentally-Controlling Speed and Step Length

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis E. Anderson ◽  
Christopher T. Franck ◽  
Michael L. Madigan
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Coefficient Of Friction ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Step Length ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Independent Effects ◽  
Positive Effect

The effects of gait speed and step length on the required coefficient of friction (COF) confound the investigation of age-related differences in required COF. The goals of this study were to investigate whether age differences in required COF during self-selected gait persist when experimentally-controlling speed and step length, and to determine the independent effects of speed and step length on required COF. Ten young and 10 older healthy adults performed gait trials under five gait conditions: self-selected, slow and fast speeds without controlling step length, and slow and fast speeds while controlling step length. During self-selected gait, older adults walked with shorter step lengths and exhibited a lower required COF. Older adults also exhibited a lower required COF when walking at a controlled speed without controlling step length. When both age groups walked with the same speed and step length, no age difference in required COF was found. Thus, speed and step length can have a large influence on studies investigating age-related differences in required COF. It was also found that speed and step length have independent and opposite effects on required COF, with step length having a strong positive effect on required COF, and speed having a weaker negative effect.

scholarly journals (Only) time can tell: Age differences in false memory are magnified at longer delays

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Fandakova ◽  
Markus Werkle-Bergner ◽  
Myriam C. Sander
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
False Memory ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Real Life ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Initial Event ◽  
Memory Representations

Older adults often report memories of past events that are partly or entirely false. To date, age differences in false memory have been examined primarily soon after the initial event. However, in real-life situations we rely on memories acquired across a lifetime. We examined associative memory in younger and older adults after 24 hours and 8 days. Age differences in memory were magnified after eight days due to a disproportionate increase in false memory rates in older adults. In both age groups, the effects of delay were modulated by memory fidelity and whether or not participants had experienced similar events potentially causing interference. Older adults were particularly vulnerable to false memory having experienced similar events, even when the initial memory was of high fidelity. We suggest that the fidelity of memory representations in concert with monitoring processes to resolve interference determine how the passage of time affects false memory.

scholarly journals I know your face but can’t remember your name: Age-related differences in the FNAME-12NL

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Enriquez-Geppert ◽  
J F Flores-Vázquez ◽  
M Lietz ◽  
M Garcia-Pimenta ◽  
P Andrés
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Effects Of Aging

Abstract Objective The Face-Name Associative Memory test (FNAME) has recently received attention as a test for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. So far, however, there has been no systematic investigation of the effects of aging. Here, we aimed to assess the extent to which the FNAME performance is modulated by normal ageing. Method In a first step, we adapted the FNAME material to the Dutch population. In a second step, younger (n = 29) and older adults (n = 29) were compared on recall and recognition performance. Results Significant age effects on name recall were observed after the first exposure of new face-name pairs: younger adults remembered eight, whereas older adults remembered a mean of four out of twelve names. Although both age groups increased the number of recalled names with repeated face-name exposure, older adults did not catch up with the performance of the younger adults, and the age-effects remained stable. Despite of that, both age groups maintained their performance after a 30-min delay. Considering recognition, no age differences were demonstrated, and both age groups succeeded in the recognition of previously shown faces and names when presented along with distractors. Conclusions This study presents for the first time the results of different age groups regarding cross-modal associative memory performance on the FNAME. The recall age effects support the hypothesis of age-related differences in associative memory. To use the FNAME as an early cognitive biomarker, further subscales are suggested to increase sensitivity and specificity in the clinical context.

scholarly journals Contextual support for children’s recall within working memory

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1364-1378
Author(s):  
Hannah E Roome ◽  
John N Towse ◽  
Maria M Crespo-Llado
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Search Processes ◽  
Contextual Support ◽  
Span Tasks ◽  
Memory Representations

Measures of working memory capacity (WMC) are extremely popular, yet we know relatively little about the specific processes that support recall. We focused on children’s and adults’ ability to use contextual support to access working memory representations that might otherwise not be reported. Children ( N = 186, 5-10 years) and adults ( N = 64) completed a listening span task and a delayed recall task with semantic probes or cues. Clear age-related increases in listening span were evident. All age groups benefitted from contextual support to retrieve degraded target memoranda, particularly on listening span tasks when the cues provided semantic support for processing events, in comparison to cues associated specifically with memoranda. Response latencies suggested a developing efficiency in children’s use of contextual support for delayed recall correlated with listening span performance. These probe tasks support accounts of working memory that recognise reconstructive and cued search processes.

Effects of Aging and Divided Attention on Recognition Memory Processes for Single and Associative Information

2011 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hikari Kinjo
Keyword(s):  
Associative Memory ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Single Feature ◽  
Relative Deficiency ◽  
Effects Of Aging

In the divided attention paradigm to test age-related associative memory deficits, whether the effects of divided attention occur at encoding or retrieval has not been clarified, and the effect on retention has not been studied. This study explored whether and how much divided attention at either encoding, retention, or retrieval diminished accuracy in recognizing a single feature (object or location) and associated features (object + location) by 23 elderly people (13 women; M age = 70.6 yr., SD = 2.8) recruited from a neighborhood community circle, and 29 female college students ( M age = 20.8 yr., SD = 1.1). The results showed a significant decline in memory performance for both age groups due to divided attention in location and associative memory at retention, suggesting that the retention process demands attentional resources. Overall, regardless of their relative deficiency in associative memory, older adults showed an effect of divided attention comparable to that of younger adults in a recognition task.

scholarly journals Reward enhances memory via age-varying online and offline neural mechanisms across development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra O Cohen ◽  
Morgan M Glover ◽  
Xinxu Shen ◽  
Camille V Phaneuf ◽  
Kristen N Avallone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Associative Memory ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Age Related ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Dopamine Signaling ◽  
Reward Motivation ◽  
The Brain

Reward motivation enhances memory through interactions between mesolimbic, hippocampal, and cortical systems - both during and after encoding. Developmental changes in these distributed neural circuits may lead to age-related differences in reward-motivated memory and the underlying neural mechanisms. Converging evidence from cross-species studies suggests that subcortical dopamine signaling is increased during adolescence, which may lead to stronger memory representations of rewarding, relative to mundane, events and changes in the contributions of underlying subcortical and cortical brain mechanisms across age. Here, we used fMRI to examine how reward motivation influences the "online" encoding and "offline" post-encoding brain mechanisms that support long-term associative memory from childhood to adulthood. We found that reward motivation led to both age-invariant as well as adolescent-specific enhancements in associative memory after 24 hours. Furthermore, reward-related memory benefits were linked to age-varying neural mechanisms. During encoding, interactions between the prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area (VTA) were associated with better high-reward memory to a greater degree with increasing age. Pre- to post-encoding changes in functional connectivity between the anterior hippocampus and VTA were also associated with better high-reward memory, but more so at younger ages. Our findings suggest that there may be developmental shifts - from offline subcortical to online cortical processes - in the brain mechanisms supporting reward-motivated memory.

scholarly journals Aging and Pattern Complexity Effects on the Visual Span: Evidence from Chinese Character Recognition

Vision ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Xie ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Sainan Zhao ◽  
Jingxin Wang ◽  
Kevin Paterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Character Recognition ◽  
Reading Speed ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
High Complexity ◽  
Pattern Complexity ◽  
Visual Span ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Age Related

Research suggests that pattern complexity (number of strokes) limits the visual span for Chinese characters, and that this may have important consequences for reading. With the present research, we investigated age differences in the visual span for Chinese characters by presenting trigrams of low, medium or high complexity at various locations relative to a central point to young (18–30 years) and older (60+ years) adults. A sentence reading task was used to assess their reading speed. The results showed that span size was smaller for high complexity stimuli compared to low and medium complexity stimuli for both age groups, replicating previous findings with young adult participants. Our results additionally showed that this influence of pattern complexity was greater for the older than younger adults, such that while there was little age difference in span size for low and medium complexity stimuli, span size for high complexity stimuli was almost halved in size for the older compared to the young adults. Finally, our results showed that span size correlated with sentence reading speed, confirming previous findings taken as evidence that the visual span imposes perceptual limits on reading speed. We discuss these findings in relation to age-related difficulty reading Chinese.

Aging and Encoding in Memory: False Alarms and Decision Criteria in a Word-Pair Recognition Task

1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Isingrini ◽  
Roger Fontaine ◽  
Laurence Taconnat ◽  
Agnes Duportal
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
False Alarm ◽  
False Alarm Rate ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Memory Strength ◽  
Decision Criteria ◽  
Age Related

Employing a false alarm recognition procedure with learning of highly associated word pairs, an experiment was conducted to examine the hypothesis of an age-related deficit in the distinctiveness of encoding. The evolution of the false alarm rate and of the C decision criteria was observed across three age groups, young adults, older adults, and older-older adults. The results show 1) no age differences on C decision criteria, indicating that the increase in FA with age is not related to a subject compensation strategy but is probably due to a failure in memory strength, and 2) that older respondents produced significantly more false alarms to distractors related to target items than the young respondents did but that they did not differ in their false alarm rate for unrelated distractors. This finding is interpreted as supporting the hypothesis of a failure with age to encode target items in a sufficiently elaborate or distinctive fashion. For the older-older respondents the data showed an increase in all false alarms indexes, suggesting that the encoding deficit gets worse in late adulthood.

Semantic Memory Functioning Across the Adult Life Span

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Bäckman ◽  
Lars-Göran Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Adult Life Span ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Memory Functioning ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Using Data

Using data from the first wave of data collection in the Betula project, this research examined semantic memory performance in adulthood and old age (N = 1000). The Betula project is a 10-year longitudinal study on memory and health that involves participants from 10 age groups: 35, 40, 45, …, and 80 years of age. Results from tests of verbal fluency and vocabulary indicated no performance variation between 35 and 50 years of age, followed by a gradual deterioration with increasing age. In a test of general knowledge, only the two oldest cohorts showed deficits. When educational level was statistically controlled, a different pattern of results was seen: the middle-aged adults performed at the highest level and, with the exception of one fluency test, no age-related deficits were observed before 75 years of age. These results suggest that, although there may be age-related deficits in semantic memory in the general population, education appears to be a more important factor than adult age per se for semantic memory functioning. The data support the view that activation of preexisting memory representations is relatively unaffected by the adult aging process, and demonstrate the pivotal role of cultural factors (e.g., education, verbal experience) in proficient semantic memory functioning.

scholarly journals Age Difference in Social Discounting: Generous Level Also Makes a Difference

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 413-413
Author(s):  
Hongmei Lin ◽  
Xin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Social Discounting ◽  
Gain And Loss

Abstract Social discounting refers to the phenomenon that individuals’ generous behaviors decline as the social distance increases. But little is known how age could influence social discounting. The present study aimed at a more comprehensive understanding of age-related differences in social discounting. Moreover, as previous studies suggested that older adults are more loss aversion, we would also test whether framing (gain vs loss) could influence social discounting between two age groups. A mixed-model factorial design of 2 (age group: younger vs. older adults) × 2 (framing: gain vs. loss) × 2 (generous level: low vs. high) × 8 (social distance) was conducted, with a total of 78 younger adults and 82 older adults. A significant social distance × age interaction was found, which replicated previous studies suggesting that older adults are more generous toward socially distant others. Interestingly, a significant age × framing × generous interaction was also found, such that in low generous condition, older adults tend to be more generous than younger adults under both gain and loss framing, while such age difference disappeared in high generous condition. These findings indicate that generous level has a positive impact on people social discounting, inducing younger adults to get more generous. Contrary to our expectation, the framing of gain and loss seems not to wave individuals’ social discounting. It seems that people think more seriously about the amount of allocation rather than framing.

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