The development of adaptive memory across early childhood

我们依靠我们回忆记忆的能力，特别是积极的记忆，来指导我们未来的行为，做出 它自适应地保留显著事件。在成年人中，积极情绪对记忆编码和巩固的影响 都有很好的特点，包括有选择地对中央、显著的信息(要点)进行优先排序，而不是 周边环境和转型，便于长期留存。年幼的孩子也同样把情感放在首位吗 回忆？大脑的结构和功能在童年时期经历了广泛而持久的发展， 特别是在4-6岁之间；内侧颞叶和杏仁核的成熟持续到早期 童年，以及延伸到青春期的前额叶皮质(PFC)的连接。但是，如果没有自上而下的 从PFC的过程来看，儿童对积极事件的反应更积极。同时，早期开发 助记功能似乎对获得概念性知识具有发展优势，而且 早期对基于“GIST”的记忆的依赖超过了细节和弱的关系绑定能力，似乎反映了这一点 积极情绪记忆的特有效应。因此，不成熟的存储系统有可能 非常适合强调记忆的适应性功能。然而，关键的是，很少有工作测试 未成熟记忆系统中的机制支持正价记忆。这样做的目的是 一项建议是确定这些适应性记忆是如何在童年早期形成和存储的 并将这些措施与支持脑形态的发育变化模式联系起来。 这项建议详细介绍了两个利用小说对儿童(4-8岁)和年轻人(18-35岁)进行的实验 行为手法和结构神经成像。在目标1中，我们提出了一个行为实验，以 描述在早期记忆中积极信息是如何有选择地优先于中性信息的 童年。在目标2中，一项行为实验将检查组织中的发展差异和 积极记忆的内容。尽管研究表明，与年龄有关的记忆倾向于“主旨”，但很少 这项工作系统地测试了在细节和显著整合的权衡上的发展差异 信息。在探索性目标3中，我们将使用结构神经成像来检查 积极记忆的益处和促进信息处理的白质束的成熟 皮质和皮质下结构。因此，拟议的目标将促进对儿童友好的新奇、 确定早期适应性记忆如何形成和存储的行为范式 发展。本研究为进一步研究情绪失调的影响因素奠定了基础 儿童早期精神障碍和培养社会情感技能的实践。

We rely on our ability to recall memories, particularly positive memories, to guide our future behaviors, making it adaptive to retain salient events. In adults, positive emotion's effects on memory encoding and consolidation have been well characterized, including the selective prioritization of central, salient information ('gist'), over peripheral context and transformation for long-term retention. Do young children similarly prioritize emotional memories? Brain structure and function undergoes extensive, protracted development across childhood, particularly between ages 4-6; with maturation of the medial temporal lobe and amygdala continuing into early childhood, and connections to prefrontal cortex (PFC) extending into adolescence. However, without top-down processes from PFC, children are more reactive to positive events. At the same time, early developing mnemonic functions seem developmentally advantageous for the acquisition of conceptual knowledge, and an early reliance on 'gist'-based memory over fine details and weak relational binding ability seem to mirror characteristic effects of positive emotional memory. It is therefore possible that the immature memory system is well suited to emphasize the adaptive functions of memory. Yet, critically little work has tested how mechanisms in the immature memory system support positively-valanced memories. The goal of this proposal is to determine how these adaptive memories are formed and stored across early childhood and to relate these measures to the pattern of developmental changes in supporting brain morphology. This proposal details two experiments with children (4-8 years old) and young adults (18-35) utilizing novel behavioral manipulations and structural neuroimaging. In Aim 1, we propose a behavioral experiment to characterize how positive information is selectively prioritized over neutral information in memory in early childhood. In Aim 2, a behavioral experiment will examine developmental differences in the organization and content of positive memories. While research has shown an age-related tendency towards 'gist'-memory, little work has systematically tested developmental differences in the trade-off of details and integration for salient information. In an exploratory Aim 3, we will use structural neuroimaging to examine the relationship between positive memory benefits and the maturation of white matter tracts that facilitate information processing across cortical and sub-cortical structures. The proposed aims will therefore advance the development of novel, childfriendly behavioral paradigms to determine how adaptive memories are formed and stored across early development. This research will provide the foundation to study the antecedents of emotion dysregulation disorders and inform practices for developing socio-emotional skills in early childhood.