PET AND FUNCTIONAL MRI STUDIES OF MEMORY LOSS WITH AGING

这位候选人的主要兴趣是研究大脑机制 精神状态，尤其是与记忆力变化有关的 在衰老过程中发生的功能。许多人的心理健康 衰老障碍的特征是记忆力异常衰退。因此， 拟议的研究应对以下方面产生重要影响 临床衰老障碍的病理生理学。候选人的前一次 临床心理学、事件相关电位(ERP)和 神经心理学导致了他目前对记忆随年龄增长的变化的兴趣 以及用神经成像评估这些变化的方法。功能性 神经成像技术，如正电子发射断层扫描(PET)和 功能磁共振成像(FMRI)，提供强大的工具 用来检查认知任务中的区域大脑活动。在……里面 此外，还出现了新的统计方法，如线性统计方法 结构关系建模(LISREL)，可用于测试模型 描述大脑功能与认知表现之间的关系。 为补充这一培训计划而设计的研究项目包括 功能神经成像激活剂的研究进展及应用 检查调节年轻人和老年人记忆的神经系统的技术 成年人。具体地说，候选人建议研究内隐技能 青年和老年受试者的学习。以往的认知研究 表明外显记忆随着年龄的增长而持续受损，而 内隐记忆的变化取决于所检查的特定功能。为 例如，对内隐记忆的研究表明，技能学习可能 老年人内隐记忆下降，而其他类型的内隐记忆，如 重复启动被保留下来。研究的初始阶段 该项目将包括年轻人和老年人离线开发范例 受试者，以及随后作为PET的激活技术在 年轻人(30-39岁)和老年人(70-79岁)。研究的后期阶段 项目将涉及对类似科目的技能学习的评估 用功能磁共振成像。此外，一些受试者将接受PET和功能磁共振成像 在项目的这一阶段，以便为直接提供数据 两种技术的比较。LISREL分析将用于测试 大脑功能模型，包括与衰老相关的功能变化。

The Candidate's primary interest is in the study of brain mechanisms underling mental states, particularly in relation to changes in memory function that occur during the course of aging. Many mental health disorders of aging are characterized by abnormal memory decline. Thus, the proposed research should have important implications concerning the pathophysiology of clinical disorders of aging. The Candidate's previous training in clinical psychology, event-related potentials (ERP), and neuropsychology led to his current interest in memory changes with aging and methods of evaluating these changes with neuroimaging. Functional neuroimaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), provide powerful tools with which to examine regional brain activity during cognitive tasks. In addition, new statistical methods have become available, such as linear structural relations modeling (LISREL) which can be used to test models describing the relationship between brain function cognitive performance. The research project designed to complement this training program involves the development and application of functional neuroimaging activation techniques to examine neural systems mediating memory in young and elderly adults. Specifically, the Candidate proposes to study implicit skill learning in young and elderly subjects. Previous cognitive research indicates that explicit memory is consistently impaired with aging, while changes in implicit memory depend on the specific function examined. For instance, studies of implicit memory suggest that skill learning may decline in older adults, while other types of implicit memory, such as repetition priming are preserved. The initial phase of the research project will include paradigm development off-line in both young and old subjects, and subsequent application as an activation technique for PET in young (30-39) and elderly (70-79) adults. Later phases of the research project will involve the evaluation of skill learning in similar subjects with fMRI. In addition some of the subjects will receive both PET and fMRI during this phase of the project in order to provide data for direct comparisons of the two technologies. LISREL analyses will be used to test models of brain function, including changes in function related to aging.