Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA.
Front Integr Neurosci. 2013 May 30;7:37. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2013.00037. eCollection 2013.
The ability to update associative memory is an important aspect of episodic memory and a critical skill for social adaptation. Previous research with younger adults suggests that emotional arousal alters brain mechanisms underlying memory updating; however, it is unclear whether this applies to older adults. Given that the ability to update associative information declines with age, it is important to understand how emotion modulates the brain processes underlying memory updating in older adults. The current study investigated this question using reversal learning tasks, where younger and older participants (age ranges 19-35 and 61-78, respectively) learn a stimulus-outcome association and then update their response when contingencies change. We found that younger and older adults showed similar patterns of activation in the frontopolar OFC and the amygdala during emotional reversal learning. In contrast, when reversal learning did not involve emotion, older adults showed greater parietal cortex activity than did younger adults. Thus, younger and older adults show more similarities in brain activity during memory updating involving emotional stimuli than during memory updating not involving emotional stimuli.
更新联想记忆的能力是情景记忆的一个重要方面，也是社交适应的关键技能。先前针对年轻成年人的研究表明，情绪唤醒改变了记忆更新的大脑机制；然而，目前尚不清楚这是否适用于老年人。鉴于更新联想信息的能力会随着年龄的增长而下降，因此了解情绪如何调节老年人记忆更新的大脑过程非常重要。本研究使用反转学习任务来研究这个问题，其中年轻组和老年组（年龄范围分别为 19-35 岁和 61-78 岁）学习刺激-结果的关联，然后在条件改变时更新他们的反应。我们发现，在情绪反转学习过程中，年轻组和老年组在前额眶额皮层和杏仁核中表现出相似的激活模式。相比之下，当反转学习不涉及情绪时，老年组比年轻组表现出更大的顶叶皮层活动。因此，在涉及情绪刺激的记忆更新过程中，年轻组和老年组的大脑活动比不涉及情绪刺激的记忆更新过程更相似。
