2008 AFAR Research Grant: Neurocognitive Effects of Aging on Memory Retrieval Processes

Please give a brief summary of your AFAR research project.
Aging can affect episodic memory, or our ability to remember specific events from the past, but memory for perceptually detailed events (such as pictures) is better in aging than memory for less detailed events (such as verbal information). Detailed memories may rely on posterior regions of the brain that are relatively unaffected with aging, compared to more anterior regions. To test this hypothesis, Dr. Gallo's research uses functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to compare neural activity during memory retrieval in younger and older adults. This research will provide key insights into the neurocognitive effects of aging on memory retrieval processes.

What problems are you addressing and what specific questions will your research seek to answer?
A major hurdle in cognitive aging research has been in separating the relatively fixed effects of aging, owing to age-related changes in brain function, from the more flexible effects of age on cognitive strategies. By using fMRI and carefully controlled cognitive tasks, this research will help to separate primary changes in memory ability from those that are due to cognitive strategies.

What aspects of your project are most interesting from a scientific point of view?
Prior to the development of neuroimaging techniques, age-related changes in memory could only be measured using subjective reports or cognitive tests. By combining neuroimaging techniques with these psychological measures, it is now possible to measure the corresponding neural systems that drive memory abilities. These newer techniques also can capture age-related changes and individual variability that cannot be obtained from psychological tests alone.

What are the implications of your research for age-related diseases and disorders?
A major goal of cognitive aging research is to better understand the cognitive processes that are affected by normal or healthy aging, as well as those that are not affected. By understanding the neural systems that contribute to memory, and how they are (or are not) affected by normal aging, we will be in a better position to diagnose and treat age-related diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease) that cause dysfunction in these systems.

Return to 2008 AFAR Grantees