Aging and the loss of control over memory

记忆和注意力不是孤立地工作的，而是相互影响的。然而，大多数认知老化研究，甚至大多数认知研究，倾向于单独关注这两个过程中的任何一个，而很少考虑它们之间的相互作用。这项研究的主要目的是通过确定(1)记忆和注意力在大脑中如何相互作用，以及(2)与年龄相关的注意力下降如何影响记忆，来加强我们对这种关系的理解。一个普遍的观点是，记忆过程本身(例如，形成新联系的能力)随着年龄的增长而下降。我的研究挑战了这一观点，表明记忆过程随着年龄的增长相对保持不变，衰退的是注意力。注意力的减少会导致老年人形成太多的联想，检索太多的信息来回应暗示，所有这些多余的记忆都会阻碍他们想要记住的东西。这项拟议的研究将使用行为和神经成像技术来证明，这种过度记忆是由于控制注意力和阻止分心的能力的年龄差异造成的。具体地说，这项拟议工作的短期目标是(1)研究老年人倾向于形成太多联想的认知和神经机制，并确定这种广泛的联想编码如何导致日常生活中的记忆缺陷，以及(2)确定注意力的年龄差异如何与我们通常测试记忆影响提取的方式以及潜在的神经过程相互作用。为此，我们将使用各种方法(包括眼球跟踪、功能磁共振成像和脑电)测试认知健康的老年人(65岁以上)和年轻人。我们将测试年轻人在注意力不集中时是否也会形成过度联想，确定老年人过度联想背后的神经过程，并确定这种影响是否延伸到更类似于日常生活的自然主义刺激(如电影)。注意力的年龄差异也会影响提取，尤其是在刻意试图记忆的情况下。我们将比较有意和无意提取过程中的神经活动和记忆表现，以确定通常观察到的年龄差异是否至少部分归因于我们在实验室测试记忆的方式。拟议的研究将重新定义通常持有的假设，即记忆的年龄差异是由记忆过程本身的某些变化引起的。这项工作不仅将为神经认知老化理论提供信息，还将使我们更广泛地理解注意力和记忆(两个基本的心理过程)是如何相互作用的。此外，通过使用多种融合方法，这项研究将提供特殊的培训机会，将加强加拿大劳动力的技能基础。

Memory and attention do not work in isolation, but reciprocally affect one another. However, most cognitive aging research, and indeed most cognitive research, tends to focus on either process individually with little regard for the interaction between them. The overarching aim of the proposed research is to strengthen our understanding of this relationship by determining (1) how memory and attention interact in the brain and (2) how age-related declines in attention affect memory.A common view is that memory processes themselves (e.g., the ability to form new associations) decline with age. My work has challenged this position, suggesting that memory processes are relatively preserved with age, what declines is attention. Decreased attention leads older adults to form too many associations and retrieve too much information in response to cues, and all these excess memories get in the way of what they want to remember. The proposed research will use behavioural and neuroimaging techniques to demonstrate that this excess remembering is due to age differences in the ability to control attention and block out distraction. Specifically, the short-term objectives of the proposed work are (1) to examine the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying older adults' tendency to form too many associations and determine how this broad associative encoding contributes to memory deficits in everyday life, and (2) to determine how age differences in attention interact with the way we commonly test memory to affect retrieval and the neural processes underlying it.For this purpose, we will test cognitively healthy older (65+) and younger adults using a variety of methods (including eye-tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography). We will test whether young adults also form excess associations when attention is low, identify the neural processes underlying older adults' excess associations, and determine whether this effect extends to naturalistic stimuli more similar to everyday life (such as movies). Age differences in attention also affect retrieval, and this may be particularly the case when intentionally trying to remember. We will compare neural activity and memory performance during intentional versus unintentional retrieval to determine whether commonly observed age differences are at least partly due to the way we test memory in the lab.The proposed research stands to redefine the commonly held assumption that age differences in memory arise from some change in memory processes themselves. This work will not only inform theories of neurocognitive aging, but also our understanding of how attention and memory (two fundamental psychological processes) interact more generally. Moreover, through the use of multiple converging methods, this research will provide exceptional training opportunities that will strengthen the skill base of the Canadian workforce.