DNE · Developmental aspects of the neural correlates of episodic encoding
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2008-01-01 → 2009-12-31
- EU contribution
- €80,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- IRG
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Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - DNE (Developmental aspects of the neural correlates of episodic encoding)
A main known contributor to adults' superior memory performance compared to children's is their differential reliance on existing knowledge-base: compared to adults, children's semantic networks are less accessible and less established. We manipulated the encoded stimuli in the present experiment such that the use of knowledge-base at encoding was more, or less, accessible, in both children and adults: encoded stimuli consisted of noun/colour combinations that were either possible or impossible in nature (e.g. possible: strawberry-red; impossible: banana-purple). Adults' fMRI studies target a priori regions of interest for a developmental comparison - the Prefrontal cortex (PFC), the lateral parietal cortex, inferotemporal cortex and the medial-temporal lobe - as they are known to undergo prolonged anatomical and/or organizational development. While being scanned, children (ages 8-11) and young adults (current N=33) saw printed noun / colour combinations, and were asked to indicate whether each combination existed in nature. A subsequent recognition test was administered outside the scanner, and encoding trials were analysed according to their subsequent recognition status, comparing encoding activation for items that were subsequently remembered to those that were subsequently forgotten. While both age groups exhibited subsequent memory-related activation in left prefrontal cortex (dorsal and inferior), left parietal cortex, bilateral inferotempral cortex and bilateral MTL regions, significant between group effects were found in the left PFC and left parietal cortex. These findings were not found to be modulated by item congruity (i.e. possible vs. impossible item-colour combination). Results show a significant developmental trend in encoding-related activation in the left lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, regions that follow a prolonged anatomical developmental trajectory. In contrast, activation in bilateral inferotemporal regions, where functional development has been previously demonstrated in the context of object recognition, showed an identical subsequent memory pattern for adults and children.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
A central challenge of developmental cognitive neuroscience is to understand how neuroanatomical changes that occur during childhood and adolescence give rise to the development of cognitive abilities during this period. The studies proposed here are the first to investigate explicit episodic memory in a developmental context. Using fMRI, the so-called `subsequent memory¿ paradigm will be employed, in which, while scanned, participants will incidentally encode a series of stimuli, whose classification into remembered" and "forgotten" trials will be made on the basis of a post-scanning recognition test.A comparison of the brain activation pattern associated with these trial types will be conducted in order to identify brain regions that support successful encoding. In adults, levels of neural activation in prefrontal cortical areas (PFC) as well as areas in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) have been observed to correlate with successful encoding. Anatomically, these two brain areas follow a different developmental trajectory, with MTL regions maturing relatively early and PFC regions reaching full maturation only in adolescence.Given children's ability to encode as well as adults (under certain circumstances), this raises the question of which neural systems support this ability in the absence of a mature PFC. The proposed studies attempt to create conditions under which, behaviourally, adults and children perform equally well, and then test whether the hypothesized differential engagement of PFC and MTL in memory encoding in adults and children is (a) observed, and (b) emerges as a function of specific episodic encoding task and components.This project is a natural continuation of the PhD and postdoctoral training I got at Harvard, and will be fundamental in my integration at the Hebrew University in Israel towards tenure. My successful reintegration will enable me to train future students and post docs, thus reducing the risk of brain drain from Europe."
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM · JERUSALEMCoordinatorIsrael
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union