# INVESTIGATING AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE AND NEURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN ASSOCIATIVE MEMORY

> **NIH NIH R15** · ELON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $390,056

## Abstract

Older adult memory is vulnerable to an associative deficit – a decline in the ability to link together multiple pieces
of information. This has implications for many aspects of cognitive functioning in everyday life, such as
remembering to take medicine at a certain time of day. However, not enough is known about the neural bases
of the associative deficit. For example, how does the associative deficit fit into broader theories of the functional
organization of memory networks in the human brain, and how is the associative deficit linked to age-related
changes in neural representations of information? The long-term goal of the proposed research is to gain
understanding of associative memory mechanisms in aging so that beneficial intervention strategies for memory
can be developed for use with older adults. The objective of the current research is to test whether specific age-
related differences in associative memory can be accounted for by differences in neural specificity and functional
connectivity in posterior-medial and anterior-temporal cortico-hippocampal networks. The overarching
hypothesis is that the associative deficit depends on the degree to which neural specificity and functional
connectivity each contribute to a task. The rationale for the proposed research is that investigating age-related
differences in neural representations and functional connectivity in associative memory will lead to a more robust
theory of the associative deficit, and will enable the development of methods for presenting information to older
adults in ways that reduce age differences in associative memory. Innovative fMRI experiments are proposed
that will: 1) Examine how encoding of new associations is affected by age differences in reactivation and
processing of prior associations and in the dynamics of cortico-hippocampal networks; and 2) Investigate how
dedifferentiation in perceptual regions contributes to age differences in the encoding and retrieval of associations
within cortico-hippocampal networks for memory. The approach is innovative because the planned experiments
will combine novel experimental designs with advanced fMRI analysis methods to bridge the gap between
cognitive theories of the associative deficit and underlying neural differences between young and older adults.
The proposed research is significant because results of the studies will generate new insights in scientific
understanding of the neural bases of the associative deficit. This work represents a critical step toward a unified
explanation of associative memory deficits in aging. It will advance the field of aging and memory as well as
enable the development of interventions, such as more effective means of presenting information, that may
improve information representations in associative memory, thereby improving health and quality of life.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10047137
- **Project number:** 2R15AG052903-02
- **Recipient organization:** ELON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Amy A Overman
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $390,056
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-06-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10047137

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10047137, INVESTIGATING AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE AND NEURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN ASSOCIATIVE MEMORY (2R15AG052903-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10047137. Licensed CC0.

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