Elucidating the Neural Correlates of False Memories in Young and Older Adults

从历史上看，记忆力衰退被认为是影响老年人的最主要的认知缺陷(总体上考虑与年龄相关的问题时，仅次于身体疾病)。然而，尽管这一领域的绝大多数研究都集中在遗忘的主观体验上，但虚假记忆--对从未发生过的事件的记忆--也是与年龄相关的记忆障碍的一个重要因素。在国家科学基金会的资助下，宾夕法尼亚州立大学大学公园分校的南希·丹尼斯博士正在进行一项使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)的研究，以确定在年轻人和老年人中调节真实和错误记忆的神经机制。先前的研究表明，遗忘和错误记忆都是认知加工在衰老过程中的相同潜在变化的结果，即过度依赖熟悉性或要点记忆(即，对事件或记忆的一般特征的记忆)，而忽视了项目特定加工(即，对事件或记忆的特定细节的记忆)。本研究考察了与语义、知觉和概念性情景记忆相关的调节项目特异性和主旨加工的神经底物。这项研究正在表征特定项目和主旨加工中与年龄相关的变化，并对支持年轻人和老年人真实和错误记忆的共同和独特的神经机制形成统一的理解。这项研究还将对大脑处理真实记忆的方式提供有价值的见解。通过这种方式，这项研究将阐明衰老过程中的整体处理变化，以及这些与年龄相关的变化对记忆功能的直接影响。此外，通过增加对老年人如何编码、处理和检索信息的理解，这项研究有助于加强旨在优化一生记忆处理的学习和测试技术。为了促进这一翻译过程，这项研究正在全国会议和社区讲座上传播给其他人。演讲是一个广泛系列的一部分，旨在教育社区中的老年人关于认知、营养、运动和其他关于衰老的研究的进展。这项研究项目还为研究生和本科生提供了记忆和衰老认知神经科学领域的教育机会。学生们接受了行为方法和高级神经成像方法和分析方面的培训。学生学习将心理学理论与神经成像方法相结合的重要性，以便深入了解在整个生命周期中调节认知行为的神经过程。具有实验设计和多种行为和功能磁共振分析技术的经验，为学生作为独立研究人员的发展奠定了基础。

Historically, memory declines have been cited as the foremost cognitive deficit affecting older adults (second only to physical ailments, when considering age-related problems in general). However, while the vast majority of research in this domain focuses on the subjective experience of forgetting, false memories - memories for events that never happened - are also a significant contributing factor to age-related memory impairment. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Nancy Dennis, Ph.D., of Pennsylvania State University, University Park, is carrying out research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to characterize the neural mechanisms mediating true and false memories in both young and older adults. Previous research suggests that both forgetting and false memories are the consequence of the same underlying shift in cognitive processing in aging, that is, an overreliance on familiarity or gist memory (i.e., memory for general features of an episodic event or memory) at the expense of item-specific processing (i.e., memory for specific details of the event or memory). This research project is examining the neural substrates mediating item-specific and gist processing as they relate to semantic, perceptual and conceptual episodic memories. The research is characterizing age-related changes in item-specific and gist processing, and developing a unified understanding of the common and unique neural mechanisms that support true and false memories in younger and older adults. The research will also provide valuable insight into the ways in which the brain processes true memories. In this way, the research will clarify overall processing shifts in aging and the direct impact of these age-related changes on memory functioning. Furthermore, by increasing the understanding of how older adults encode, process, and retrieve information, the research is contributing to the enhancement of study and testing techniques designed to optimize memory processing across the lifespan. To facilitate this translational process, the research is being disseminated to others at both national conferences and community-attended lectures. Presentations are part of an extensive series aimed at educating seniors in the community about advances in cognition, nutrition, exercise, and other research on aging. This research project also offers educational opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students in the field of memory and the cognitive neuroscience of aging. Students are trained in both behavioral methods and advanced neuroimaging methodologies and analyses. Students learn the importance of integrating psychological theory with neuroimaging methods in order to gain insight into the neural processes mediating cognitive behavior across the lifespan. Experience with experimental design and multiple behavioral and fMRI analyses techniques lays a foundation for students' development as independent researchers.