Boundary Conditions for Age-related Associative Deficit: Behavioural Moderators and Neural Mechanisms

衰老通常伴随着记忆力的衰退。具体地说，老年人很难记住记忆元素之间的联系(例如，面孔-名字对)，尽管他们对个别项目(例如，面孔或名字)的记忆往往是完整的。这指的是与年龄相关的关联性缺陷。过去的研究表明，在某些边界条件下，当提供内在(即，内在的刺激)或外在的支持(例如，策略/指导)时，这种缺陷是不存在的或大大减少的。然而，该领域仍然缺乏对这些边界条件及其工作机制(即行为或神经)的系统检查。 为了填补这一空白，这项拟议的研究将系统地检查三种边界条件的影响，这些条件可以减少正常衰老中的联想记忆缺陷，以及相关的行为调节因子和神经相关因素。具体地说，它涉及以下三个研究问题： 1.在以下三个边界条件下，与年龄相关的联想缺陷是否会减少：图式支持、价值分配和项目预学习？ 2.在行为上，改进的策略编码(即学习)和/或受控提取(即回忆)过程是否缓解了减弱的联想缺陷？ 3.上述行为影响的神经因素是什么？ 主要的假设是，老年人的联想缺陷在确定的边界条件下将会减少，这些变化的标志是行为和神经效率的提高。将进行五个实验，采用多种方法收集行为、电生理(即脑电)和眼球跟踪数据。EEG数据将在实验中的词对联想学习任务中被记录。2-4，并将在实验中跟踪眼球运动。5.在Exp.1-3，将使用改进的联想记忆程序来收集逐个试验的编码策略报告，并在检索过程中估计回忆(即，记住先前经历的事件的特定细节)。实验4是一项验证性研究，旨在直接操纵和比较编码策略的使用(即深与浅)和提取过程(即快速熟悉与慢节奏回忆)。实验5将采用一种新的三元组联想学习范式来评估图式支持对编码过程中的眼睛注视模式以及随后对每个三元组中的两个关联的线索回忆的影响。 对联想的记忆对于老年人过上积极和独立的生活至关重要。通过确定边界条件，该提议将促进我们对记忆老化中的因素及其行为或神经关联的理解。这一结果将指导记忆预防或干预的实践，老年人可以使用有效的策略来记住重要的关联信息(例如，社会上有意义的其他人的面孔-名字对)。

Aging usually accompanies with memory decline. Specifically, older adults have difficulty remembering associations among memory elements (e.g., face-name pairs), despite their memory for individual items (e.g., faces or names) tend to be intact. This refers to the age-related associative deficit. Past research suggested that this deficit was absent or much reduced in some boundary conditions when intrinsic (i.e., built in stimuli) or extrinsic support (e.g., strategies/instructions) was provided. However, the field still lacks a systematic examination of these boundary conditions and their working mechanisms (i.e., behavioural or neural). To fill this gap, the proposed research will systematically examine the effects of three boundary conditions that reduce the associative memory deficit in normal aging, as well as the associated behavioural moderators and neural correlates. Specifically, it addresses the following three research questions: 1. Would age-related associative deficit be reduced in the following three boundary conditions: schematic support, value assignment, and item pre-learning? 2. Behaviourally, is the attenuated associative deficit moderated by improved strategic encoding (i.e., learning) and/or controlled retrieval (i.e., recollection) processes? 3. What are the neural correlates for the aforementioned behavioural effects? The leading hypothesis is that older adults' associative deficit would be reduced in the identified boundary conditions, and these changes are marked by enhanced behavioural and neural efficiency. Five experiments will be conducted, with a multi-method approach to collect behavioural, electrophysiological (i.e., EEG), and eye-tracking data. EEG data will be recorded during the word-pair associative learning task in Exp. 2-4, and eye movements will be tracked in Exp. 5. In Exp. 1-3, a modified associative memory procedure will be used to collect trial-by-trial encoding strategy report and to estimate recollection (i.e., remembering specific details of previously experienced events) during retrieval. Exp. 4 is a validation study to directly manipulate and compare encoding strategy use (i.e., deep vs. shallow) and retrieval process (i.e., speeded familiarity vs. slow-paced recollection). Exp. 5 will adopt a novel triplet associative learning paradigm to assess the effect of schematic support on eye-fixation patterns during encoding and on the subsequent cued recall of the two associations in each triplet. Memory for associations is crucial for older adults to lead an active and independent life. Through identifying the boundary conditions, the proposal will advance our understanding of the factors and their behavioural or neural correlates in memory aging. The results will guide the practice of memory prevention or intervention with effective strategies that older adults could use to remember important associative information (e.g., face-name pairs of socially significant others).