NEURAL CORRELATES OF AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN MEMORY

即使在健康的老年人中，记忆力方面的抱怨也是丰富的，而且 病理性下降和规范性变化之间的区别不是 很容易画出来。来自健忘症研究的累积证据表明 大脑的特定区域可能对习得至关重要， 记忆的维护和恢复。尽管取得了可观的收益 在过去的几十年里，我们对大脑之间关系的理解 衰老和与之相关的记忆力下降仍然是缺乏的。变老会 不会统一影响所有内存功能。陈述性记忆是 在健康的老年人和健忘症患者中，启动都是相对较弱的 在这两个组中都不存在，而技能和源内存在 健忘症，但随着年龄的增长而受损。问题是，这种模式是否 选择性年龄相关的记忆缺陷反映了一种独特的模式 大脑退化。拟议项目的主要目标是 提供了更好的了解神经解剖学的基础 记忆功能随着年龄的增长而衰退。在一系列研究中，健康 18-88岁的成年人将接受遗忘症和认知功能的测试。 具体的大脑结构的大小将根据磁性进行估计。 磁共振成像扫描使用计算机辅助形态测量。这个 脑感兴趣区(ROI)组织体积之间的关系 记忆功能将使用线性模型进行检查。以下是 这些问题将在三项研究中得到解决。1.是否与年龄相关的萎缩 海马区结构和间脑结构可预测 陈述性记忆下降？2.完好的新大脑皮层对 正常的重复启动？3.在来源上与年龄有关的差异 记忆与年龄依赖性前额叶皮质萎缩有关 工作记忆下降？4.程序性(技能)缺陷 记忆，经常在老年人中观察到，与年龄相关 基底节和小脑萎缩？

Memory complaints are abundant even in healthy elderly, and a clear-cut distinction between pathological declines and normative changes is not easily drawn. Cumulative evidence from research on amnesia suggests that specific areas of the brain may be critically important for acquisition, maintenance and retrieval of memories. In spite of considerable gains of the last decades, our understanding of the relationship between brain aging and the associated declines in memory is still lacking. Aging does not affect all memory functions uniformly. Declarative memory is impaired both in healthy elderly and in amnesiacs, priming is relatively spared in both groups, whereas skill and source memory are spared in amnesia, but impaired in aging. The question is, whether this pattern of selective age-related memory deficits reflects a distinct pattern of brain deterioration. The main objective of the proposed project is to provide a better understanding of the neuroanatomical substrates of the memory functions declining with age. In a series of studies, healthy adults aged 18-88 will undergo tests of amnestic and cognitive functions. The size of specific brain structures will be estimated from magnetic resonance imaging scans using computer-assisted morphometry. The relations between tissue volume in the brain regions of interest (ROIs) and memory functions will be examined using linear models. The following questions will be addressed in three studies. 1. Is age-related atrophy of the hippocampal formation and diencephalic structures predictive of declines in declarative memory? 2. Is intact neocortex necessary for normal repetition priming? 3. Are age-related differences in source memory linked to age-dependent prefrontal cortical atrophy through the decline in working memory? 4. Are the deficits in procedural (skill) memory, frequently observed in older adults, related to age-dependent atrophy of the basal ganglia and the cerebellum?