PREFRONTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO MEMORY IN THE YOUNG AND OLD

该计划的目标是在认知和神经上更精确地描述短期记忆或工作记忆（WM; Baddeley, 1986）和事件记忆或情景记忆（Tulving, 1972）所涉及的过程。尽管记忆记忆和情景记忆通常是分开讨论的，但研究者们越来越多地认为，共同的认知过程，即执行功能，对记忆记忆和情景记忆的表现都有贡献。不幸的是，尽管研究人员已经提出了几个模型来说明这些执行功能可能是什么，以及它们是如何参与WM和情景记忆的，但对服务于这些功能的皮层网络的识别却落后了。现有证据表明，前额皮质（PFC）区域特别参与这些功能。例如，WM的神经成像研究表明，尽管PFC的腹侧区域参与保持表征在意识中的“在线”（主动维持），但背侧区域更多地参与对这些主动表征进行操作（操纵）。虽然这些发现来自WM的研究，但有可能相同的机制也有助于对事件的特定感知细节进行编码和检索，这些细节有助于确定情景记忆的来源（例如，确定事件发生的时间、地点和方式，将感知事件与思想和心理图像区分开来）。因此，编码和检索这些指定来源的信息可能需要有助于记忆记忆和情景记忆的执行功能。

The goal of the proposed project is to more precisely characterize, cognitively and neurally, processes involved in short-term, or working memory (WM; Baddeley, 1986), and memory for events, or episodic memory (Tulving, 1972). Although WM and episodic memory are typically discussed separately, there is a growing consensus among researchers that common cognitive processes, referred to as executive functions, contribute to both WM and episodic memory performance. Unfortunately, although researchers have proposed several models to specify what these executive functions might be and how they are involved in WM and episodic memory, identification of the cortical networks subserving these functions has lagged behind. Available evidence indicates that regions of prefrontal cortex (PFC) are particularly involved in these functions. For example, neuroimaging studies of WM suggest that whereas ventral regions of PFC are involved in keeping representations "on-line" in consciousness (active maintenance), dorsal regions are more involved in performing operations upon these active representations (manipulation). Although these finding have emerged from studies of WM, it is possible that the same mechanisms also contribute to the encoding and retrieval of specific perceptual details of events that are useful for determining the source of an episodic memory (e.g., determining when, where, and how an event took place, differentiating perceived events from thoughts and mental images). Thus, encoding and retrieval of this source-specifying information may require executive functions that contribute to both WM and episodic memory.