Memory Aging Chapter 102505

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Ten

Memory Aging

William J. Hoyer and Paul Verhaeghen

I. Introduction

The term memory is used broadly torefer to the various operations of mindthat involve the encoding, retention, andretrieval of information and experiences.Behavioral and biological events andprocesses that occur during the passageof time determine memory aging. Theobjective of this chapter is to providean overview and review of the currentstatus of research and theory on thistopic. We review age-performance rela-tions for several forms of memory,including recollection, episodic memory,prospective memory, and workingmemory, for which there are age-relateddeficits, and we consider the recenttheoretical and empirical advances thatbear on the explanation of age-relatedeffects on memory. We give specialconsideration to age effects that seem toinvolve the extent to which there isindividual control over basic processesof memory.The coverage is necessarily selective.We say too little about current workon aging and priming, perceptual learn-ing, autobiographical memory, everydaymemory, and meta-memory. Also, we saytoo little about some of the antecedentsknown to affect memory aging, especiallygenetic factors, dementia and diseaseinfluences, sensory and perceptual influ-ences, social and contextual influences,emotional influences, and circadianinfluences (for reviews or key findingson these topics, see Charles, Mather,& Carstensen, 2003; Deary et al.,2004; Hertzog & Hultsch, 2000; Hess,2005; Isaacowitz, Charles, & Carstensen,2000; Madden, Whiting, & Huettel, 2005;Mather, 2004; Reynolds et al., 2005;Rogers & Fisk, 2001; Small et al., 2004;Winocur & Hasher, 2002).This chapter is intended to serve as anupdate to the chapters on aging andmemory found in previous editions ofthis

Handbook

(Ba¨ckman, Small, &Wahlin, 2001; Craik, 1977; Hultsch &Dixon, 1990; Poon, 1985; Smith, 1996).Our coverage builds on some of thematerial found in those chapters and inrecently published reviews and overviews(e.g., Craik & Jennings, 1992; Light et al.,2000; Parkin & Java, 2000; Raz, 2005;Zacks, Hasher, & Li, 2000). We beginby summarizing patterns in data thatindicate the principal differences in theeffects of aging on measures of memory.Then we discuss macro-level and micro-level explanations of memory aging.

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Handbook of the Psychology of Aging

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Finally, we consider the effects ofmemory interventions.

II. Varieties of Memory Aging

It is generally accepted that there aredifferent forms of memory and multiplesystems of memory. As discussed byRoediger, Marsh, and Lee (2002), formsof memory can be distinguished on thebasis oftemporal characteristics (e.g., sen-sory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory, remote memory), proces-sing requirements at encoding andretrieval (e.g., recollection, familiarity),and stimulus domain (e.g., visual–spatial, verbal). Most early reviews ofthe memory aging literature emphasizeddata showing differences in short-termand long-term tasks and processes, databearing on the relative inefficiencies inencoding, storage, and retrieval, and thedifferential aging of visual–spatial proces-sing relative to verbal processing. Morerecent work has been strongly guided bymodels of multiple memory systems andthe distinction between the processesof recollection and familiarity, on theone hand (cf. microlevel research); andmultivariate models and mediator andshared variance models applied to largecross-sectional and longitudinal datasets, on the other hand (cf. macro-levelresearch).At the micro level, different memorysystems can be distinguished on the basisof neuroanatomical as well as behavioralevidence from patients and healthyadults. One taxonomy for which a consid-erable amount of evidence has accumu-lated is shown in Figure 10.1, taken fromSquire (2004). This framework serves asa useful scheme for guiding research aswell as for organizing data bearing onthe aging of different memory systems.The well-known findings of age-relateddeficits in declarative episodic memory(memory for events) in contrast to muchsmaller or negligible age effects in nonde-clarative forms of memory (e.g., repeti-tion priming) are consistent with therelations between distinct memory func-tions and their neural substrates indi-cated in this scheme. Impaired recall andother forms of declarative memory areassociated with age-related changes inthe brain that affect the medial temporalarea, encompassing the hippocampusand surrounding cortical regions (peri-rhinal, entorhinal, and parahippocampalcortices). Note that medial temporal lobeis implicated in declarative memory forboth events and facts, yet age deficits are

MedialTemporalLobeDiencephalonFactsMedialTemporalLobeDiencephalonEventsDeclarativeStriatumProcedural(Skills andHabits)NeocortexPrimingandPerceptualLearningAmygdalaEmotionalResponsesCerebellumSkeletalResponsesSimpleClassicalConditioningReflexPathwaysNonassociativeLearningNondeclarativeMemory

Figure 10.1

A composite taxonomy of memory systems (based onSquire, 2004).210 William J. Hoyer and Paul Verhaeghen

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known to be much greater for declarativeretrieval of

particular

events and factsthan for declarative retrieval of

general

events and facts. The extent to which thehippocampus supports the formation,organization, and retrieval of richlydetailed memories and their distinctivecontexts probably diminishes with aging(e.g., Prull, Gabrieli, & Bunge, 2000; Raz,2000, 2005).As a first introduction to the varietiesof memory aging, Figure 10.2 shows datafrom a comprehensive cross-sectionalstudy by Park and colleagues (2002) thatincluded composite measures of manyaspects of memory: episodic long-termmemory (free recall, cued recall, Reyauditory verbal learning test, and theBenton test), short-term memory (forwardcorsi blocks, backward corsi blocks,forward digit span, and backward digitspan), working memory (line span, letterrotation, reading span, and computationspan), processing speed (pattern com-parisons, letter comparisons, and digitsymbol substitution), and semanticmemory (three vocabulary tests). It canbe seen that episodic memory, speed ofprocessing, short-term memory, andworking memory all decline (and toabout the same amount) over the courseof the adult life span. In contrast to thesenegative age trends, the measures ofverbal knowledge show a flat profile (seealso Allen et al., 2002; Ro¨nnlund et al.,2005; Verhaeghen & Salthouse, 1997).Other aspects of memory that evidencelittle or no age-related decline include (1)measures influenced by the process offamiliarity as opposed to recollection and(2) measures of implicit memory andpriming as opposed to explicit memory,as discussed below.

A. Recollection and Familiarity

A substantial amount of recent evidencesupports the view that many varietiesof memory are subserved by two distinctprocesses, recollection and familiarity(see Yonelinas, 2002). Recollectioninvolves the retrieval of contextual

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1.5

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1

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0.500.511.520's 30's 40's 50's 60's70's80'sAge groups (years)

Z s c o r e s

Working MemoryShort-term MemoryLong-Term MemorySpeed of ProcessingVerbal Knowledge

Figure 10.2

A cross-sectional data collection using measures of speedof processing, short-term memory, working memory, and long-termmemory. Adapted from Park et al. (2002), with permission.TEN / Memory 211