Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (Cimec), University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2023 May;30(3):486-503. doi: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2054926. Epub 2022 Mar 21.
Learning results from online (within-session) and offline (between-sessions) changes. Heterogeneity of age-related effects in learning may be ascribed to aging differentially affecting these two processes. We investigated the contribution of online and offline consolidation in visuo-spatial working memory (vWM). Younger and older participants performed a vWM task on day one and after nine days, allowing us to disentangle online and offline learning effects. To test whether offline consolidation needs continuous practice, two additional groups of younger and older adults performed the same vWM task in between the two assessments. Similarly to other cognitive domains, older adults improved vWM through online (during session one) but not through offline learning. Practice was necessary to improve vWM between sessions in older participants. Younger adults instead exhibited only offline improvement, regardless of practice. The findings suggest that while online learning remains efficient in aging, practice is instead required to support more fragile offline mechanisms.
学习源自在线（会话期间）和离线（会话之间）的变化。学习中与年龄相关的效应的异质性可能归因于衰老对这两个过程的不同影响。我们研究了视觉空间工作记忆（vWM）中在线和离线巩固的贡献。年轻和年长的参与者在第一天和九天后执行 vWM 任务，使我们能够区分在线和离线学习效应。为了测试离线巩固是否需要连续练习，另外两组年轻和年长的成年人在两次评估之间执行相同的 vWM 任务。与其他认知领域一样，老年人通过在线（在第一次会议期间）而不是通过离线学习来提高 vWM。在老年人中，练习对于在会话之间提高 vWM 是必要的。而年轻参与者则表现出仅离线改善，而不考虑练习。研究结果表明，虽然在线学习在衰老过程中仍然有效，但练习对于支持更脆弱的离线机制是必要的。
