Relating changes in fronto-parietal networks to changes in control over memory: A longitudinal, cognitive neuroscience approach to memory development in childhood

在童年早期，孩子们很难记住他们过去与特定时间和地点有关的情节。这种记忆能力，被称为情节记忆，在童年中期显著提高。这些改进与(A)对记忆编码和提取的控制(助记控制)，(B)记忆策略的使用，以及(C)对正在进行的思维过程的知识和监控(元认知)的增加有关。然而，关于大脑结构中随年龄变化支持这三个组成部分的是什么以及如何支持这三个组成部分，我们知之甚少。目前的应用主要是为了更好地理解与增加对记忆编码和提取的控制有关的神经机制。结构磁共振成像的最新进展使研究人员能够通过将灰质和白质的变化与记忆表现的改善联系起来，来研究人类大脑结构和情景记忆之间的发育关联。在这些进展的基础上，拟议的项目追求两个主要目标：(1)纵向研究前额叶和顶叶区域灰质变化对记忆控制发展的贡献；(2)研究前额叶和顶叶区域内部和之间结构连接的变化如何有助于记忆控制的发展。为了实现这些目标，8到10岁儿童和成人的纵向表现变化将在一项对记忆力控制要求不同的情景记忆任务中进行评估。这项任务将得到其他措施的补充，以允许在潜在因素水平上调查助记和元认知控制的发展。记忆变化的测量将与使用结构方程建模的额叶和顶叶区域皮质厚度的变化有关，以及使用探索性的解剖相关性全脑图谱与额叶和顶叶区域结构连通性的变化相关。这项拟议的研究项目可能会进一步加深我们对儿童期中期和青春期正常情景记忆发展背后的大脑结构变化的理解。它还将以多种方式促进申请者的科学生涯。两位主持人Simona Ghetti和Silvia Bunge是内存开发领域的国际领导者，并在相关问题上成功地进行了合作。与Simona Ghetti合作将使申请者了解更多关于童年记忆发展的心理学理论，以及在行为研究中使用准实验设计。与Silvia Bunge合作将培养申请者在神经科学方法方面的专业知识，特别是前额叶皮质成熟对记忆力控制的贡献。此外，拟议的项目将受益于申请者在结构方程建模方面的现有专门知识。

Early in childhood, children have difficulties remembering episodes from their past that are bound to specific times and places. This ability to remember, referred to as episodic memory, improves dramatically in middle childhood. These improvements have been linked to increased (a) control over memory encoding and retrieval (mnemonic control), (b) use of mnemonic strategies, and (c) knowledge and monitoring of ongoing thought processes (metacognition). However, little is known about which and how age-graded changes in brain structure support these three components. The present application primarily aims at a better understanding of the neural mechanisms that are related to increasing control over memory encoding and retrieval.Recent advances in structural magnetic resonance imaging have enabled researchers to study the developmental association between brain structure and episodic memory in humans by relating changes in gray and white matter to improvements in memory performance. Building on these advances, the proposed project pursues two major goals: (1) to longitudinally investigate the contributions of regional gray matter changes in prefrontal and parietal regions to the development of mnemonic control; (2) to examine how changes in structural connectivity within and between prefrontal and parietal regions contribute to developmental increases in mnemonic control. To attain these goals, longitudinal change in performance in 8- to 10-year-old children and adults will be assessed in an episodic memory task with varying demands on mnemonic control. This task will be complemented by additional measures to permit the investigation of mnemonic and metacognitive control development at the latent factor level. Measures of memory change will be related to changes in cortical thickness in frontal and parietal regions using structural equation modeling, as well as to changes in the structural connectivity of frontal and parietal regions using an explorative whole-brain mapping of anatomical correlations. The proposed research project is likely to further our understanding of structural brain changes underlying normal episodic memory development during middle childhood and adolescence. It would also foster the scientific career of the applicant in multiple ways. The two hosts, Simona Ghetti and Silvia Bunge, are international leaders in the field of memory development, and have successfully collaborated with each other on related issues. Working with Simona Ghetti would allow the applicant to learn more about psychological theories of memory development during childhood and the use of quasi-experimental designs in behavioral research. Working with Silvia Bunge would foster the expertise of the applicant in neuroscience methods, in general, and the contribution of prefrontal cortex maturation to mnemonic control, in particular. In addition, the proposed project would profit from the extant expertise of the applicant in structural equation modeling.