# Plasticity in Aging and Memory for Everyday Activities

> **NIH NIH P20** · KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $227,981

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
As we age, cognitive abilities such as working memory and episodic memory decline, but semantic knowledge
remains intact. This proposal will test whether older adults can leverage their intact semantic knowledge to
offset the declines in working memory and episodic memory. In particular, the proposed studies will assess
whether semantic knowledge improves how everyday activities are encoded. The long-term goal of this
research is to identify ways in which older adults can use their intact knowledge to improve their everyday
memory, make effective decisions in everyday life (e.g., decisions about healthcare and estate planning),
interact with new technology, and maintain an independent lifestyle. This goal is highly relevant to the NIH core
mission “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of
that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.” Aim 1 of this proposal will
determine how knowledge use during event encoding changes with age. Aim 2 will test a knowledge-based
intervention for improving everyday memory. The proposal will use an innovative combination of behavioral
oculomotor, and neuroimaging measures of event encoding to address these aims. We will assess how
younger and older adults adapt their strategies when learning new information. Specifically, this project will
focus on the extent to which people can learn to utilize their existing knowledge to effectively encode everyday
activities. We hypothesize that semantic knowledge will improve event encoding. Further, we predict that
because older adults often experience everyday memory failures, they will learn to rely on their increased
knowledge base to offset these impairments. Thus, we predict that knowledge will improve everyday memory
to a greater extent for older adults. Our goal of improving older adults' ability to encode and retrieve everyday
activities is aligned with NIA's vision for older adults to “enjoy robust health and independence, remain
physically and mentally active, and continue to make positive contributions to their families and communities.”

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10197944
- **Project number:** 5P20GM113109-05
- **Recipient organization:** KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Heather Bailey
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $227,981
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-15 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10197944

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10197944, Plasticity in Aging and Memory for Everyday Activities (5P20GM113109-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10197944. Licensed CC0.

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