Faculty of Psychology, Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 17, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 27;11(1):15257. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-94530-9.
Spatial learning can be based on intramaze cues and environmental boundaries. These processes are predominantly subserved by striatal- and hippocampal-dependent circuitries, respectively. Maturation and aging processes in these brain regions may affect lifespan differences in their contributions to spatial learning. We independently manipulated an intramaze cue or the environment's boundary in a navigation task in 27 younger children (6-8 years), 30 older children (10-13 years), 29 adolescents (15-17 years), 29 younger adults (20-35 years) and 26 older adults (65-80 years) to investigate lifespan age differences in the relative prioritization of either information. Whereas learning based on an intramaze cue showed earlier maturation during the progression from younger to later childhood and remained relatively stable across adulthood, maturation of boundary-based learning was more protracted towards peri-adolescence and showed strong aging-related decline. Furthermore, individual differences in prioritizing intramaze cue- over computationally more demanding boundary-based learning was positively associated with cognitive processing fluctuations and this association was partially mediated by spatial working memory capacity during adult, but not during child development. This evidence reveals different age gradients of two modes of spatial learning across the lifespan, which seem further influenced by individual differences in cognitive processing fluctuations and working memory, particularly during aging.
空间学习可以基于迷宫内线索和环境边界。这些过程主要由纹状体和海马依赖性回路分别提供。这些大脑区域的成熟和衰老过程可能会影响其对空间学习贡献的寿命差异。我们在导航任务中分别操纵迷宫内线索或环境边界，以研究 27 名年幼儿童（6-8 岁）、30 名年长儿童（10-13 岁）、29 名青少年（15-17 岁）、29 名年轻成年人（20-35 岁）和 26 名年长成年人（65-80 岁）在相对优先考虑两种信息方面的寿命差异。虽然基于迷宫内线索的学习在从年幼到较年长儿童的发展过程中表现出较早的成熟，但在成年期相对稳定，而基于边界的学习的成熟则更为缓慢，直到青春期，并表现出与年龄相关的强烈下降。此外，在迷宫内线索优先于计算上更复杂的基于边界的学习方面的个体差异与认知处理波动呈正相关，这种关联在成年期部分由空间工作记忆能力介导，但在儿童期则没有。这一证据揭示了两种空间学习模式在整个生命周期中的不同年龄梯度，这些梯度似乎进一步受到认知处理波动和工作记忆的个体差异的影响，特别是在衰老过程中。
