Effects of Older Age on the Neural Basis of Memory Generalization
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 360
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Behavioral memory responses
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this clinical is to learn how the brain supports different kinds of memory decisions in healthy young and older adults. The main question it seeks to answer is: Do older adults make memory decisions by integrating across experiences?
Young (aged 18-30 years) and older (aged 65-80 years) participants will complete a memory task while undergoing functional MRI to measure their brain responses.
Researchers will compare brain measures of integration in older adults to those of young adults to see if integration increases in older age.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Na
- Intervention Model
- Single Group
- Primary Purpose
- Basic Science
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to 80 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Either aged 18-30 years (young adults) or aged 65-80 years (older adults) (self-report)
- •Fluent in English (self-report)
- •Right-handed (self-report)
- •Cognitively healthy (self report verified by score > 24 on Montreal Cognitive Assessment)
- •Self-reported normal or corrected-to-normal vision
Exclusion Criteria
- •Self-reported neurological disorder (e.g., Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease)
- •Self-reported uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, or thyroid disorder
- •Having conditions or devices that are unsafe for MRI (assessed via imaging center's MRI safety screening form)
- •Self-reported difficulty lying still on one's back for 1-2 hours
Arms & Interventions
Experimental Arm
This is a within-subject design with a single experimental arm
Intervention: Memory decision type (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Behavioral memory responses
Time Frame: Session 2 (experimental session)
Participants will complete the study and test phases of a memory-based inference task designed by the investigators. The investigators will focus on the accuracy of decisions (0-100% scale with higher scores meaning better memory) and how long it takes to make correct decisions (in seconds, faster responses mean less cognitive processing needed).
Neural memory responses
Time Frame: Session 2 (experimental session)
Investigators will measure the neural underpinnings of direct memory and the ability to make inferences.
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported
Investigators
Caitlin Bowman
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee