title: Age-related alterations of brain network underlying the retrieval of emotional autobiographical memories: an fMRI study using independent component analysis.
abstract: Normal aging has been shown to modulate the neural underpinnings of autobiographical memory and emotion processing. Moreover, previous researches have suggested that aging produces a "positivity effect" in autobiographical memory. Although a few imaging studies have investigated the neural mechanism of the positivity effect, the neural substrates underlying the positivity effect in emotional autobiographical memory is unclear. To understand the age-related neural changes in emotional autobiographical memory that underlie the positivity effect, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study used the independent component analysis (ICA) method to compare brain networks in younger and older adults as they retrieved positive and negative autobiographical events. Compared to their younger counterparts, older adults reported relatively higher positive feelings when retrieving emotional autobiographical events. Imaging data indicated an age-related reversal within the ventromedial prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex (VMPFC/ACC) and the left amygdala of the brain networks that were engaged in the retrieval of autobiographical events with different valence. The retrieval of negative events compared to positive events induced stronger activity in the VMPFC/ACC and weaker activity in the amygdala for the older adults, whereas the younger adults showed a reversed pattern. Moreover, activity in the VMPFC/ACC within the task-related networks showed a negative correlation with the emotional valence intensity. These results may suggest that the positivity effect in older adults' autobiographical memories is potentially due to age-related changes in controlled emotional processing implemented by the VMPFC/ACC-amygdala circuit.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ruiyang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: College of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Action, Brain, and Cognition Laboratory and fMRIotago, Department of Psychology, University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: College of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Dahua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China ; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiying
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Long
keywords: ICA; aging; emotional autobiographical memory; fMRI; positivity effect