Older Age and Generalization

Caitlin Bowman360 enrolled

Overview

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 Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

360

Conditions

Aging

Interventions

Memory decision typeBEHAVIORAL

Subjects will be probed to either remember an association they saw directly during the study phase or to make an inference across indirectly associated items.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 80 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

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

Locations (1)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

RECRUITING

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Behavioral memory responses

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).

Time frame: Session 2 (experimental session)

Neural memory responses

Investigators will measure the neural underpinnings of direct memory and the ability to make inferences.

Time frame: Session 2 (experimental session)

Central Contacts

Caitlin Bowman, PhD

CONTACT

414-251-5010 bowman2@uwm.edu

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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