Neural correlates of episodic memory retrieval from childhood to aging

Les études en neurosciences cognitives ont mis en évidence des phénomènes de neuroréorganisation au cours du vieillissement et des corrélats neuronaux spécifiques à la maturation de l’enfant, lors de la réalisation de tâches de mémoire épisodique. Examiner l’évolution des corrélats neuronaux de la récupération en mémoire et déterminer si les patterns cérébraux spécifiques à l’enfant et à l’adulte âgé sont bénéfiques à la performance mnésique constituaient les objectifs majeurs de ce travail. Les résultats ont mis en évidence que les patterns de neuroréorganisation liés à l’âge (modèle PASA et modèle HAROLD) sont déjà présents chez l’adulte jeune et ne sont donc pas spécifiques au cerveau âgé. En accord avec l’hypothèse de compensation, la neuroréorganisation observée chez les adultes âgés, sous la forme d’un shift frontal, apparait bénéfique à la performance mnésique et est liée à un meilleur fonctionnement exécutif. Enfin, l’activité pariétale et frontale chez l’enfant est associée au processus de familiarité, alors que chez les adultes jeunes l’activité pariétale est liée à la remémoration. Chez les adultes âgés, l’activité frontale est associée au processus de remémoration, suggérant un phénomène compensatoire.Studies in cognitive neurosciences have highlighted neural reorganization phenomena in aging and specific neural correlates associated with children’s maturation during episodic memory tasks. To examine the evolution of the neural correlates of the memory retrieval and to determine if brain patterns specific to children and older adults are beneficial to the memory performance, were the major objectives of this work. Results showed that age-related neural reorganization patterns (PASA model and HAROLD model) are already present in young adults, therefore they are not specific to the older brains. In agreement with the compensation hypothesis, the neural reorganization observed in older adults, taking the form of a frontal shift, appears to be beneficial to memory performance and associated with a better executive functioning. Finally, frontal and parietal activities in children are associated with the familiarity process, whereas in young adults the parietal activity is related to a recollection process. In older adults, the frontal activity is associated with a recollection process, suggesting a compensatory phenomenon

Is episodic memory change in aging associated with level of control processes and rate of control change? A 4-year longitudinal study

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Le développement des processus de remémoration et de familiarité : données comportementales et électrophysiologiques

International audienceThis article examines studies that have used behavioral and electrophysiological measures to look at the development of recollection and familiarity processes during childhood and adolescence. Behavioral data show different developmental trajectories for these two processes. Indeed, recollection and familiarity both develop during early childhood, but familiarity stabilizes from the age of eight while recollection increases throughout childhood and adolescence. Unexpectedly, event-related potential studies detailed the presence of an old/new parietal effect in children, associated with recollection, while most studies failed to highlight the early frontal old/new effect that is supposed to reflect familiarity in adults. Avenues for reflection are discussed in order to explain the discrepancy between behavioral and electrophysiological data on children’s use of the familiarity process.Cet article présente une synthèse des études qui se sont intéressées au développement des processus de remémoration et de familiarité au cours de l’enfance et de l’adolescence en utilisant les approches comportementale et électrophysiologique. Les données comportementales révèlent que ces deux processus présentent des trajectoires développementales différentes. En effet, les processus de remémoration et de familiarité se développent au cours de la petite enfance mais la familiarité se stabilise dès l’âge de 8 ans alors que la remémoration augmente tout au long de l’enfance et de l’adolescence. De façon inattendue, les études en potentiels évoqués ont décrit chez l’enfant un effet old/new pariétal, associé à la remémoration, et, dans la majorité des travaux, une absence d’effet old/new frontal précoce, supposé refléter la familiarité chez l’adulte. Des pistes de réflexion sont discutées afin d’expliquer cette discordance entre données comportementales et électrophysiologiques sur le recours à la familiarité chez l’enfant

Neural correlates of episodic memory change in increasing age: a longitudinal event-related potential study

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Event-related brain potential correlates of brain reorganization of episodic memory throughout the adult lifespan

International audienceThe main aim of this study was to characterize the age-related evolution of the event-related brain potentials correlates of successful to tackle the neural reorganization patterns associated with this episodic retrieval. We thus examined the evolution of the event-related brain potential old/new effect across the adult lifespan, in five groups, aged 21–70 years (21–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, and 61–70 years), equalized on their memory performance through a word-stem cued-recall task. This procedure makes it possible to examine the evolution of age-related changes in brain organization during adulthood and to specify the age onset of these changes. Results confirm the hypothesis that aging is associated with major changes in brain functioning. These changes appear to be consistent with both the HAROLD and PASA hypotheses, which postulate an age-related reduction in hemispheric asymmetry and a shift from posterior to anterior areas, respectively. What is notable is that these patterns of brain reorganization are not specific to older stages of life as they begin to develop very early in adult life, around the 30s, and the shift toward frontal regions strengthens in the 60s

Students’ Need Satisfaction Profiles: Similarity and Change over the Course of a University Semester

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The age-related effect on electrophysiological correlates of successful episodic memory encoding supports the hypothesis of a deficit in self-initiated encoding processes in aging

International audienceEpisodic memory decline with aging may be due to an age-related deficit in encoding processing, older adults having increasing difficulty to self-initiate encoding strategies that support later retrieval. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study explored for the first time the neural correlates of successful encoding in a resource-dependent episodic memory task, in which participants had to self-initiate processes at both encoding and retrieval. At the behavioral level, results confirm the better memory performance of young than older adults. Comparing the neural activity elicited by studied items that were and were not subsequently recalled (Subsequent Memory Effect, SME), electrophysiological data revealed that younger adults showed a significant and sustained SME, shifting from parietal to frontal areas, suggesting that they self-initiated deep encoding strategies. In older adults, the duration of brain activity was shorter and located more in the parietal than frontal areas, suggesting that they used shallow rather than deep processes. Consistent with the hypothesis of a deficit in self-initiated strategies in aging, our findings suggest that when older adults are faced with a difficult memory task (no encoding support and no cue at retrieval), they engage fewer elaborative strategies than young adults, resulting in impaired episodic memory performance

Personality traits affect older adults' memory differently depending on the environmental support provided at encoding

International audienceResearch suggests that personality traits are associated with memory performance, particularly as people age. In two studies, we examined two personality traits (openness to experience and neuroticism) that have been hypothesized to modulate episodic memory performance in older adults. We tested the hypothesis that these traits would be differently associated with episodic memory according to the amount of cognitive support provided at encoding. We examined the role of these personality traits in free recall when performance was supported by prior task success versus no prior task success (Experiment 1) and by generating versus reading (Experiment 2). Results showed that prior task success and generating items led to superior memory performance. In both studies, openness to experience was positively associated with memory performance and neuroticism was negatively associated with memory performance. Further, openness accounted for the most variability in recall performance under conditions providing low cognitive support and neuroticism, on the other hand, accounted for recall in both high and low support conditions. Results suggest that neuroticism is a key personality trait implicated in memory performance, but for the most difficult memory tasks, a high level in openness may aid memory performance