Understanding the contribution of individual differences to domain-general and domain-specific components of false memories in both young and older adults

这项拟议的项目试图检查和理解错误记忆发生的个体差异，错误记忆的定义是错误地记住一个事件，或者与它最初发生的方式不同。对记忆表现中认知和神经变异性的个体差异的研究将是理解一生中错误记忆来源的关键因素。通过了解导致这些内存错误的机制，我们可以更好地了解如何避免这些错误。该项目将研究一种旨在减少老年人错误记忆的认知训练策略的好处。这项研究将同时使用行为和神经成像(FMRI)方法来了解错误记忆的基础。神经成像分析将包括单变量、功能连接性和多变量分析，以揭示真实和错误记忆背后的神经机制。这将扩大对导致一生中错误记忆的因素的理解。这项研究将对本科生和研究生进行关于记忆和认知衰老的认知神经科学的培训，并将教育公众关于记忆和认知过程随年龄变化的知识。记忆研究通常旨在确定记忆在大脑中是如何表现的。衰老研究通常旨在找出与年龄相关的记忆缺陷的来源。目前的建议结合了这些目标，以揭示认知老化中一个重要的错误来源--错误记忆--背后的认知和神经过程。长期目标是找出与错误记忆有关的全局性和特定领域的差异来源，并找出有效的、基于证据的策略来减少记忆错误。这个项目旨在找出这种差异的认知和神经标记，以及导致错误记忆的个体差异因素。这项研究还将检查认知训练对成功降低错误记忆发生率的影响。为了做到这一点，这项工作将利用行为方法来检查老年人错误记忆中的个体差异，以及先进的神经成像方法来研究神经信息是如何在整个大脑中处理和呈现的。通过了解与不同来源的错误记忆易感性相关的共同和独特影响，该项目可以确定有效减少错误记忆的策略，从而改善与年龄相关的记忆衰退。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The proposed project seeks to examine and understand individual differences underlying the occurrence of false memories, which is defined as remembering an event incorrectly or differently than how it originally occurred. The investigation of individual differences underlying both cognitive and neural variability in memory performance will be a critical factor in understanding the sources of false memories across the lifespan. By understanding the mechanisms that lead to these memory errors, we can better understand how to avoid these errors. The project will examine the benefits of a cognitive training strategy aimed at reducing false memories in older individuals. The research will use both behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods to understand the basis of false memories. Neuroimaging analyses will include univariate, functional connectivity, and multivariate analyses to uncover the neural mechanism underlying both true and false memories. This will expand understanding of factors that contribute to false memories across the lifespan. The research will train undergraduate and graduate students on cognitive neuroscience of memory and cognitive aging and will educate the public about memory and cognitive processes that change with age. Memory research typically aims to identify how memories are represented in the brain. Aging research typically aims to identify sources of age-related deficits in memory. The current proposal combines these goals to reveal the cognitive and neural processes underlying a significant source of error in cognitive aging, that of false memories. The long-term goal is to identify domain-general and domain-specific sources of variance associated with false memories across the lifespan and identify effective, evidence-based strategies for reducing memory errors. This project aims to identify the cognitive and neural markers of such variance as well as individual differences factors that contribute to false memories. The research will also examine the effects of cognitive training in older adults to successfully reduce the incidence of false memories. To do so, the work will utilize behavioral methods examining individual differences in false memories in older adults, as well as advanced neuroimaging methods to investigate how neural information is processed, and represented, throughout the brain. By understanding both common and unique influences associated with the susceptibility to false memories across difference sources, the project can identify strategies for effectively reducing false memories, thereby ameliorating age-related memory decline.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.