Neural substrates of specific and general autobiographical memory retrieval in younger and older adults

Healthy aging is associated with a shift away from the retrieval of specific episodic autobiographical memories (AMs), towards more general and semanticized memories. Younger adults modulate activity in the default mode network according to the episodic specificity of AM retrieval. However, little i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropsychologia 2024-01, Vol.193, p.108754, Article 108754
Main Authors: Devitt, Aleea L, Roberts, Reece, Metson, Abby, Tippett, Lynette J, Addis, Donna Rose
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aging - physiology
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Memory, Episodic
Mental Recall - physiology
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Summary:Healthy aging is associated with a shift away from the retrieval of specific episodic autobiographical memories (AMs), towards more general and semanticized memories. Younger adults modulate activity in the default mode network according to the episodic specificity of AM retrieval. However, little is known about whether aging disrupts this neural modulation. In the current study we examine age-related changes in the modulation of whole-brain networks in response to three tasks falling along a gradient of episodic specificity. Younger and older adults retrieved specific (unique) AMs, general (routine) AMs, and semantic (general knowledge) memories. We found that both younger and older adults modulated default mode regions in response to varying episodic specificity. In addition, younger adults upregulated activity in several default mode regions with increasing episodic specificity, while older adults either did not modulate these regions, or downregulated activity in these regions. In contrast, older adults upregulated activity in the left temporal pole for tasks with higher episodic specificity. These brain activation patterns converge with prior findings that specific AMs are diminished in episodic richness with age, but are supplemented with conceptual and general information. Age-related reductions in the modulation of default mode regions might contribute to the shift away from episodic retrieval and towards semantic retrieval, resulting in reduced episodic specificity of personal memories.
ISSN:0028-3932
1873-3514
1873-3514
DOI:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108754