# Interactions between goals, attention, and memory in younger and older adults

> **NIH NIH F32** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $67,446

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Representation of task goals is a critical component of episodic memory retrieval, and yet little is known about
the neural coding of mnemonic goals and their potential modulation by attentional preparedness in the context
of remembering at the trial level in young adults or in older adults. This topic is particularly important to address
in the context of aging because older adulthood is characterized by changes in control and attention that have
the potential to affect neural coding of goals and attentional preparedness during retrieval. These components
are underexplored in cognitive neuroscience research even though they are key predictors of age-related daily
functioning and neurological decline. Motivated by theories of cognitive aging and extant data on shifts in
control strategies, fluctuations in dynamic attention, and dedifferentiation of task states in frontoparietal brain
networks at the trial level as a function of age, the proposed research program will leverage multivariate
decoding analyses and concurrent task-based electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging
(EEG-fMRI) in two experiments using sensitive source memory tasks to address fundamental and as yet
unresolved questions regarding age-related changes in goal representations, attentional preparedness, and
brain computations and EEG oscillations that underlie these processes during memory retrieval. Each
experiment will integrate within- and between-age analytics so that older adult data are not entirely dependent
on young adult data. Aim 1 will delineate how hierarchical domain-general and domain-specific goal
representations are computed in frontoparietal networks and relate to medial temporal lobe (MTL) mechanisms
of remembering and behaviors (e.g., retrieval success in terms of hits vs. correct rejections) by implementing
an experimental manipulation of mnemonic goal processing, and multivariate decoding analyses, in younger
and older adults. This experiment will optimize the design and power of Aim 2, though the methods and
findings of each aim can function separately. By indexing attentional preparedness via variations in EEG pre-
trial alpha and peri-trial theta power, Aim 2 will specify how an experimental manipulation that modulates
attentional preparedness before a goal is processed relates to univariate blood oxygen level-dependent
(BOLD) signal in frontoparietal networks, multivariate decoding of goal and retrieval success representations,
and behaviors in young and older adults. The aims have the potential to uncover new insights into how age-
related changes in neural coding of goals and attentional preparedness affect retrieval. The experiments will
leverage sophisticated empirical tools to advance new knowledge that has implications for scientific
scholarship and public health. The scope of the investigation on goal processing, attention, and memory, and
their interaction, will (a) advance scientific knowledge related ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9942366
- **Project number:** 5F32AG059341-03
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kevin Paul Madore
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $67,446
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2022-01-24

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942366

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942366, Interactions between goals, attention, and memory in younger and older adults (5F32AG059341-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942366. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*