title: The effectiveness of unitization in mitigating age-related relational learning impairments depends on existing cognitive status.
abstract: Binding relations among items in the transverse patterning (TP) task is dependent on the integrity of the hippocampus and its extended network. Older adults have impaired TP learning, corresponding to age-related reductions in hippocampal volumes. Unitization is a training strategy that can mitigate TP impairments in amnesia by reducing reliance on hippocampal-dependent relational binding and increasing reliance on fused representations. Here we examined whether healthy older adults and those showing early signs of cognitive decline would also benefit from unitization. Although both groups of older adults had neuropsychological performance within the healthy range, their TP learning differed both under standard and unitized training conditions. Healthy older adults with impaired TP learning under standard training benefited from unitized training. Older adults who failed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) showed greater impairments under standard conditions, and showed no evidence of improvement with unitization. These individuals' failures to benefit from unitization may be a consequence of early deficits not seen in older adults who pass the MoCA.
authors.affiliation: a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: D'Angelo
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Victoria M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Arber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kacollja
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Felicia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest , Toronto , Canada.|b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Malcolm A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Binns
authors.affiliation: a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest , Toronto , Canada.|b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Morgan D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Barense
authors.affiliation: a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest , Toronto , Canada.|b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Jennifer D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012660:Semantics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive aging; hippocampus; relational memory; transverse patterning; unitization