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

> **NIH NIH R15** · XAVIER UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $23,937

## 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:** 11167067
- **Project number:** 7R15AG052903-03
- **Recipient organization:** XAVIER UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Amy A Overman
- **Activity code:** R15 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $23,937
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2024-08-12 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11167067

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11167067, INVESTIGATING AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE AND NEURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN ASSOCIATIVE MEMORY (7R15AG052903-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11167067. Licensed CC0.

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