title: Age differences in hippocampal activation during gist-based false recognition.
abstract: Age-related increases in reliance on gist-based processes can cause increased false recognition. Understanding the neural basis for this increase helps to elucidate a mechanism underlying this vulnerability in memory. We assessed age differences in gist-based false memory by increasing image set size at encoding, thereby increasing the rate of false alarms. False alarms during a recognition test elicited increased hippocampal activity for older adults as compared to younger adults for the small set sizes, whereas the age groups had similar hippocampal activation for items associated with larger set sizes. Interestingly, younger adults had stronger connectivity between the hippocampus and posterior temporal regions relative to older adults during false alarms for items associated with large versus small set sizes. With increased gist, younger adults might rely more on additional processes (e.g., semantic associations) during recognition than older adults. Parametric modulation revealed that younger adults had increased anterior cingulate activity than older adults with decreasing set size, perhaps indicating difficulty in using monitoring processes in error-prone situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA. Electronic address: paigel@brandeis.edu.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Paige
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA; Department of Psychology & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Brittany S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cassidy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, William James Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Schacter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Angela H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Gutchess
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aging; False memory; Gist; Hippocampus; Memory; fMRI