Fjell Anders M, Sneve Markus H, Amlien Inge K, Grydeland Håkon, Mowinckel Athanasia M, Vidal-Piñeiro Didac, Sørensen Øystein, Walhovd Kristine B
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373, Oslo, Norway.
Center for Computational Radiology and Artificial Intelligence, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 14;15(1):8816. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-92278-0.
Some older adults show high episodic memory performance compared to same-age peers. It is not known whether their high function is caused by special brain features in aging, or whether superior memory has the same brain foundation throughout adult life. To address this, we measured hippocampal volume and atrophy, microstructural integrity by diffusion tensor imaging, and activity during an episodic memory encoding and retrieval task in cognitively healthy adults (n = 277, age 20.1-81.5 years). Atrophy was quantified by repeated MRIs (2-7 examinations, mean max follow-up time 9.3 years). Superior memory was associated with higher retrieval activity in the anterior hippocampus and less hippocampal atrophy. There were no significant age-interactions, suggesting stable correlates of superior memory function. Age-memory performance curves across the full age-range were similar for participants with high memory performance compared to those with normal and low performance. These trajectories were based on cross-sectional data but did not indicate preserved memory among the superior functioning older adults. In conclusion, the results confirm that aspects of hippocampal structure and function are related to superior memory, without evidence to suggest that the best performing older adults are characterized by special hippocampal features compared to their younger counterparts.
与同龄人相比，一些老年人表现出较高的情景记忆能力。尚不清楚他们的高功能是由衰老过程中特殊的大脑特征引起的，还是卓越的记忆力在整个成年期都具有相同的大脑基础。为了解决这个问题，我们测量了认知健康成年人（n = 277，年龄20.1 - 81.5岁）的海马体积和萎缩情况、通过扩散张量成像测量的微观结构完整性，以及在情景记忆编码和检索任务期间的活动。通过重复磁共振成像（2 - 7次检查，平均最大随访时间9.3年）对萎缩情况进行量化。卓越的记忆力与前海马体更高的检索活动以及更少的海马萎缩相关。没有显著的年龄交互作用，表明卓越记忆功能的相关因素是稳定的。与记忆表现正常和较低的参与者相比，记忆表现高的参与者在整个年龄范围内的年龄 - 记忆表现曲线相似。这些轨迹基于横断面数据，但并未表明功能卓越的老年人存在记忆保留情况。总之，结果证实海马体结构和功能的某些方面与卓越的记忆力有关，但没有证据表明表现最佳的老年人与年轻同龄人相比具有特殊的海马特征。
