Elucidating the Neural Correlates of False Memories in Young and Older Adults

阐明年轻人和老年人错误记忆的神经关联

• 批准号: 1025709
• 负责人: Nancy Dennis
• 金额: $ 61.83万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1025709&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Elucidating; Neural; Correlates; False; Memories

Historically, memory declines have been cited as the foremost cognitive deficit affecting older adults (second only to physical ailments, when considering age-related problems in general). However, while the vast majority of research in this domain focuses on the subjective experience of forgetting, false memories - memories for events that never happened - are also a significant contributing factor to age-related memory impairment. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Nancy Dennis, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University, University Park, is carrying out research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to characterize the neural mechanisms mediating true and false memories in both young and older adults. Previous research suggests that both forgetting and false memories are the consequence of the same underlying shift in cognitive processing in aging, that is, an overreliance on familiarity or gist memory (i.e., memory for general features of an episodic event or memory) at the expense of item-specific processing (i.e., memory for specific details of the event or memory). This research project is examining the neural substrates mediating item-specific and gist processing as they relate to semantic, perceptual and conceptual episodic memories. The research is characterizing age-related changes in item-specific and gist processing, and developing a unified understanding of the common and unique neural mechanisms that support true and false memories in younger and older adults. The research will also provide valuable insight into the ways in which the brain processes true memories. In this way, the research will clarify overall processing shifts in aging and the direct impact of these age-related changes on memory functioning. Furthermore, by increasing the understanding of how older adults encode, process, and retrieve information, the research is contributing to the enhancement of study and testing techniques designed to optimize memory processing across the lifespan. To facilitate this translational process, the research is being disseminated to others at both national conferences and community-attended lectures. Presentations are part of an extensive series aimed at educating seniors in the community about advances in cognition, nutrition, exercise, and other research on aging. This research project also offers educational opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students in the field of memory and the cognitive neuroscience of aging. Students are trained in both behavioral methods and advanced neuroimaging methodologies and analyses. Students learn the importance of integrating psychological theory with neuroimaging methods in order to gain insight into the neural processes mediating cognitive behavior across the lifespan. Experience with experimental design and multiple behavioral and fMRI analyses techniques lays a foundation for students' development as independent researchers.

从历史上看，记忆力下降被认为是影响老年人的最重要的认知缺陷（在考虑一般与年龄相关的问题时，仅次于身体疾病）。然而，虽然该领域的绝大多数研究都集中在遗忘的主观体验上，但错误记忆（对从未发生过的事件的记忆）也是导致与年龄相关的记忆障碍的重要因素。在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，宾夕法尼亚州立大学帕克分校的 Nancy Dennis 博士正在利用功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 进行研究，以表征年轻人和老年人介导真实和错误记忆的神经机制。先前的研究表明，遗忘和错误记忆都是衰老过程中认知处理的相同潜在转变的结果，即过度依赖熟悉性或要点记忆（即对情景事件或记忆的一般特征的记忆），而牺牲了特定项目的处理（即对事件或记忆的特定细节的记忆）。该研究项目正在研究介导特定项目和主旨处理的神经基质，因为它们与语义、知觉和概念情景记忆相关。 该研究正在描述特定项目和主旨处理中与年龄相关的变化，并对支持年轻人和老年人真实和错误记忆的常见和独特的神经机制形成统一的理解。该研究还将为大脑处理真实记忆的方式提供有价值的见解。通过这种方式，该研究将阐明衰老过程中的整体处理变化以及这些与年龄相关的变化对记忆功能的直接影响。此外，通过增加对老年人如何编码、处理和检索信息的理解，该研究有助于增强旨在优化整个生命周期记忆处理的研究和测试技术。为了促进这一转化过程，该研究正在全国会议和社区参加的讲座上向其他人传播。演讲是广泛系列的一部分，旨在教育社区老年人了解认知、营养、运动和其他衰老研究方面的进展。该研究项目还为记忆和衰老认知神经科学领域的研究生和本科生提供教育机会。学生接受行为方法和先进神经影像方法和分析的培训。学生学习将心理学理论与神经影像学方法相结合的重要性，以便深入了解介导整个生命周期认知行为的神经过程。实验设计以及多种行为和功能磁共振成像分析技术的经验为学生作为独立研究人员的发展奠定了基础。