The rate of source memory decline across the adult life span.
Previous studies have suggested that the ability to remember contextual information related to specific episodic experiences declines with advancing age; however, the exact moment in the adult life span when this deficit begins is still controversial. Source memory for spatial information was tested in a life span sample of 1,500 adults between the ages of 21 and 80. Initially, images of common objects were randomly presented on one quadrant of a screen while the participants judged whether they were natural or artificial. During the retrieval phase, these same images were mixed with new ones, and all images were displayed in the center of the screen. The participants were asked to judge whether each image was new or old, and whether it was old, to indicate in which quadrant of the screen it had originally been presented. Source accuracy decreased linearly with advancing age at a rate of 0.6% per year across all decades even after controlling for educational level; this decline was unaffected by sex. These results reveal that either spatial information becomes less efficiently bound to episodic representations over time or that the ability to retrieve this information decreases gradually throughout the adult life span.
Laboratorio de NeuroCognición, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 3004, Colonia Copilco Universidad, Building D, Second Floor, Room 12, México D. F., 04511, México. selene@unam.mx
Selene
S
Cansino
Cinthya
C
Estrada-Manilla
Evelia
E
Hernández-Ramos
Joyce Graciela
JG
Martínez-Galindo
Frine
F
Torres-Trejo
Tania
T
Gómez-Fernández
Mariana
M
Ayala-Hernández
David
D
Osorio
Melisa
M
Cedillo-Tinoco
Lissete
L
Garcés-Flores
Sandra
S
Gómez-Melgarejo
Karla
K
Beltrán-Palacios
Haydée
H
Guadalupe García-Lázaro
Fabiola
F
García-Gutiérrez
Yadira
Y
Cadena-Arenas
Luisa
L
Fernández-Apan
Andrea
A
Bärtschi
Julieta
J
Resendiz-Vera
María Dolores
MD
Rodríguez-Ortiz
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult