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Institute
Highlights
• Short- and long-delay memory consolidation is less robust in children than in young adults.
• Short-delay brain profile comprised of hippocampal, cerebellar, and neocortical brain regions.
• Long-delay brain profile comprised of neocortical and selected hippocampal brain regions.
• Brain profiles differ between children and young adults.
Abstract
From early to middle childhood, brain regions that underlie memory consolidation undergo profound maturational changes. However, there is little empirical investigation that directly relates age-related differences in brain structural measures to memory consolidation processes. The present study examined memory consolidation of intentionally studied object-location associations after one night of sleep (short delay) and after two weeks (long delay) in normally developing 5-to-7-year-old children (n = 50) and young adults (n = 39). Behavioural differences in memory retention rate were related to structural brain measures. Our results showed that children, in comparison to young adults, retained correctly learnt object-location associations less robustly over short and long delay. Moreover, using partial least squares correlation method, a unique multivariate profile comprised of specific neocortical (prefrontal, parietal, and occipital), cerebellar, and hippocampal head and subfield structures in the body was found to be associated with variation in short-delay memory retention. A different multivariate profile comprised of a reduced set of brain structures, mainly consisting of neocortical (prefrontal, parietal, and occipital), hippocampal head, and selective hippocampal subfield structures (CA1–2 and subiculum) was associated with variation in long-delay memory retention. Taken together, the results suggest that multivariate structural pattern of unique sets of brain regions are related to variations in short- and long-delay memory consolidation across children and young adults.
The present study aimed to investigate the affect-cognition interplay in young and older adults by studying prospective memory (PM), the realisation of delayed intentions. While most previous studies on the topic were conducted in the laboratory, we examined the influence of naturally occurring affect on PM tasks carried out in participants' everyday lives. For seven consecutive days, participants were asked to rate their affective state nine times per day and send text messages either at specific times (time-based PM) or when a particular event occurred (event-based PM). Results showed that within-participants changes in valence from more positive to more negative affect were associated with decreased PM performance. This was similarly true for young and older adults. The design used allowed linkage of within-participants fluctuations of affect and cognitive functions, constituting a methodological advancement. Results suggest that positive affect has the potential to improve cognitive functioning in everyday life.
From early to middle childhood, brain regions that underlie memory consolidation undergo profound maturational changes. However, there is little empirical investigation that directly relates age-related differences in brain structural measures to the memory consolidation processes. The present study examined system-level memory consolidations of intentionally studied object-location associations after one night of sleep (short delay) and after two weeks (long delay) in normally developing 5-to-7-year-old children (n = 50) and young adults (n = 39). Behavioural differences in memory consolidation were related to structural brain measures. Our results showed that children, in comparison to young adults, consolidate correctly learnt object-location associations less robustly over short and long delay. Moreover, using partial least squares correlation method, a unique multivariate profile comprised of specific neocortical (prefrontal, parietal, and occipital), cerebellar, and hippocampal subfield structures was found to be associated with variation in short-delay memory consolidation. A different multivariate profile comprised of a reduced set of brain structures, mainly consisting of neocortical (prefrontal, parietal, and occipital), and selective hippocampal subfield structures (CA1-2 and subiculum) was associated with variation in long-delay memory consolidation. Taken together, the results suggest that multivariate structural pattern of unique sets of brain regions are related to variations in short- and long-delay memory consolidation across children and young adults.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
* Short- and long-delay memory consolidation is less robust in children than in young adults
* Short-delay brain profile comprised of hippocampal, cerebellar, and neocortical brain regions
* Long-delay brain profile comprised of neocortical and selected hippocampal brain regions.
* Brain profiles differ between children and young adults.
Adaptive decision-making is governed by at least two types of memory processes. On the one hand, learned predictions through integrating multiple experiences, and on the other hand, one-shot episodic memories. These two processes interact, and predictions – particularly prediction errors – influence how episodic memories are encoded. However, studies using computational models disagree on the exact shape of this relationship, with some findings showing an effect of signed prediction errors and others showing an effect of unsigned prediction errors on episodic memory. We argue that the choice-confirmation bias, which reflects stronger learning from choice-confirming compared to disconfirming outcomes, could explain these seemingly diverging results. Our perspective implies that the influence of prediction errors on episodic encoding critically depends on whether people can freely choose between options (i.e., instrumental learning tasks) or not (Pavlovian learning tasks). The choice-confirmation bias on memory encoding might have evolved to prioritize memory representations that optimize reward-guided decision-making. We conclude by discussing open issues and implications for future studies.