INVESTIGATING AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE AND NEURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN ASSOCIATIVE MEMORY

老年人的记忆容易出现联想缺陷--将多个片段联系在一起的能力下降 的信息。这对日常生活中认知功能的许多方面都有影响，例如 记得在一天的某个时间吃药。然而，对神经基础的了解还不够 联想缺陷的影响例如，联想缺陷如何适应更广泛的功能理论， 人类大脑中记忆网络的组织，以及关联缺陷如何与年龄相关 信息的神经表征的变化拟议研究的长期目标是获得 了解衰老中的联想记忆机制，以便制定有益的记忆干预策略， 可以开发用于老年人。目前的研究目的是测试是否特定年龄- 联想记忆中的相关差异可以通过神经特异性和功能性的差异来解释。 后内侧和前颞皮质-海马网络的连接。总体 假设是，关联缺陷取决于神经特异性和功能性的程度， 每个连接都有助于完成一项任务。这项研究的基本原理是， 神经表征和联想记忆中的功能连接的差异将导致更强大的 理论的联想赤字，并将使发展的方法，提出信息，以老年人 成年人的方式，减少年龄差异的联想记忆。提出了创新的功能磁共振成像实验 这将：1）检查新关联的编码如何受到重新激活的年龄差异的影响， 先前关联的处理和皮质-海马网络的动力学;以及2）调查如何 知觉区域的去分化导致了联想编码和提取的年龄差异 大脑皮层-海马网络中的记忆。这种方法是创新的，因为计划中的实验 将新颖的实验设计与先进的功能磁共振成像分析方法相结合，以弥合 年轻人和老年人之间的联想缺陷和潜在神经差异的认知理论。 拟议的研究意义重大，因为研究结果将在科学领域产生新的见解。 理解联想缺陷的神经基础。这项工作是迈向统一的关键一步。 解释衰老过程中的联想记忆缺陷。它将推动衰老和记忆领域的发展， 能够制定干预措施，例如更有效的信息提供手段， 改善关联记忆中的信息表示，从而改善健康和生活质量。

Older adult memory is vulnerable to an associative deficit – a decline in the ability to link together multiple pieces of information. This has implications for many aspects of cognitive functioning in everyday life, such as remembering to take medicine at a certain time of day. However, not enough is known about the neural bases of the associative deficit. For example, how does the associative deficit fit into broader theories of the functional organization of memory networks in the human brain, and how is the associative deficit linked to age-related changes in neural representations of information? The long-term goal of the proposed research is to gain understanding of associative memory mechanisms in aging so that beneficial intervention strategies for memory can be developed for use with older adults. The objective of the current research is to test whether specific age- related differences in associative memory can be accounted for by differences in neural specificity and functional connectivity in posterior-medial and anterior-temporal cortico-hippocampal networks. The overarching hypothesis is that the associative deficit depends on the degree to which neural specificity and functional connectivity each contribute to a task. The rationale for the proposed research is that investigating age-related differences in neural representations and functional connectivity in associative memory will lead to a more robust theory of the associative deficit, and will enable the development of methods for presenting information to older adults in ways that reduce age differences in associative memory. Innovative fMRI experiments are proposed that will: 1) Examine how encoding of new associations is affected by age differences in reactivation and processing of prior associations and in the dynamics of cortico-hippocampal networks; and 2) Investigate how dedifferentiation in perceptual regions contributes to age differences in the encoding and retrieval of associations within cortico-hippocampal networks for memory. The approach is innovative because the planned experiments will combine novel experimental designs with advanced fMRI analysis methods to bridge the gap between cognitive theories of the associative deficit and underlying neural differences between young and older adults. The proposed research is significant because results of the studies will generate new insights in scientific understanding of the neural bases of the associative deficit. This work represents a critical step toward a unified explanation of associative memory deficits in aging. It will advance the field of aging and memory as well as enable the development of interventions, such as more effective means of presenting information, that may improve information representations in associative memory, thereby improving health and quality of life.