ERP CORRELATES OF NORMAL AND ABNORMAL MEMORY

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The broad objective of the proposed research is to record brain ERPs in order to provide a spatio-temporal mapping of cognitive activity related to explicit and implicit memory function in the intact human brain. The basic premise of this proposal is that inferences about both the underlying cognitive architecture and the brain generators of the cognition-related ERP components can be obtained through the convergence of several sources of information including: 1) the use of clinical populations, such as patients with AD and schizophrenia, with well-documented memory and other cognitive deficits; 2) the study of normal cognitive development and aging which provides the opportunity to study groups of individuals known to differ, as the aging process unfolds, on explicit and implicit memory tasks; and 3) the use of patients with amnestic disorders due to brain injuries. The application also includes the study of two aspects of explicit memory, source and recognition memory, that depend, respectively, upon the frontal and medial temporal lobes, thus providing: a) the opportunity to test competing hypotheses as to putative sites of schizophrenic brain dysfunction and associated symptomatology; b) the opportunity to better characterize age-related memory deficits and their putative neural sites in the older population; and c) the opportunity to assess the differential developmental rates of change in these two explicit memory functions (and their underlying neural circuits). All of the above allow ERP differences between age or clinical groups to be anchored in differences in cognitive processes. Finally, the use of current source density (CSD) analysis and brain electric source analysis (BESA) for estimating the spatial configuration of brain generators underlying the surface-recorded ERPs is notable. The candidate's career enhancement and continuing development will be sustained and fostered by: 1) the experience to be gained during the conduct of the proposed research; 2) extensive collaborations and consultation with other experts in the field; 3) study sessions and workshops in topographic techniques and source localization; 4) new areas of research, including studies of ERP memory-related phenomena in schizophrenia, and in brain injured patients with amnestic disorders; and 5) use of unique departmental resources and environment dedicated to better understanding of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and AD.