Motivated Learning in younger and older adults: Behavioural and neuroimaging studies

记忆力衰退是正常衰老的标志之一，可能会对老年人的生活质量产生重大负面影响。申请人以前的工作表明，对老年人来说，回忆最近发生的事件的具体背景尤其困难。例如，一个年长的成年人可能记得听过一个关于熟人的故事，但可能记不清故事是在何时何地发生的。这项拟议的研究将研究是否可以通过在学习过程中引入激励机制，如金钱奖励，来最大限度地减少老年人的背景记忆缺陷。奖励动机学习以前还没有在老年人中被研究过。然而，在年轻人中，金钱激励被证明激活了一个神经“奖励网络”，而这个网络反过来又增强了邻近“记忆网络”的处理能力。这项拟议的研究试图确定奖励动机学习的好处是否适用于老年人。尤其令人感兴趣的是，老年人的背景记忆是否会在奖励的存在下得到增强。这项研究的发现将大大有助于目前对老年人认知和大脑可塑性的理解，并可能导致为老年人设计有效记忆程序的创新。研究将分三个阶段进行。第一阶段的行为实验将确定奖励预期是否会改善老年人的记忆，特别是对背景记忆的关注。第二阶段的功能磁共振成像(FMRI)实验将深入了解与记忆奖励效应相关的大脑活动模式的年龄差异。最后，第三阶段的定量模型分析将使用fMRI数据来调查奖励和记忆网络显示相关活动并因此在学习过程中“协同工作”的程度上的年龄差异。总而言之，这项拟议的研究为理解与年龄相关的学习和记忆差异的认知和神经基础提供了一种新的方法，也是改善老年人记忆缺陷的潜在途径。

Memory decline is one of the hallmarks of normal aging and can have a significant negative impact on older adults' quality of life. Previous work by the applicant has shown that recalling the specific context of recent events is particularly difficult for older adults. For example, an older adult may remember hearing a story about an acquaintance, but may have trouble remembering where and when the story was told. The proposed research will examine whether older adults' context memory deficit can be minimized by introducing motivational incentives, such as monetary rewards, during learning. Reward-motivated learning has not previously been investigated in older adults. However, in younger adults, monetary incentives have been shown to activate a neural "reward network" which, in turn, enhances processing in a neighbouring "memory network." The proposed research seeks to determine whether the benefits of reward-motivated learning generalize to older adults. Of particular interest is whether older adults' context memory is boosted in the presence of rewards. Findings from this research will contribute significantly to current understanding of cognitive and brain plasticity in aging, and may lead to innovation in the design of effective memory programs for the elderly. The research will be carried out in three phases. Behavioural experiments in Phase 1 will establish whether reward anticipation improves memory in older adults, with specific attention to memory for context. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments in Phase 2 will provide insight into age differences in the brain activity patterns associated with reward effects on memory. Finally, quantitative modelling analyses in Phase 3 will use fMRI data to investigate age differences in the degree to which reward and memory networks show correlated activity and thus "work together" during learning. In sum, the proposed research represents a novel approach to understanding the cognitive and neural basis of age-related differences in learning and memory, and a potential avenue towards ameliorating older adults' memory deficits.