Age differences in self-referencing: Evidence for common and distinct encoding strategies

Abstract

Although engagement of medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) underlies self-referencing of information for younger and older adults, the region has not consistently been implicated across age groups for the encoding of self-referenced information. We sought to determine whether making judgments about others as well as the self influenced findings in the previous study. During an fMRI session, younger and older adults encoded adjectives using only a self-reference task. For items later remembered compared to those later forgotten, both age groups robustly recruited medial prefrontal cortex, indicating common neural regions support encoding across younger and older adults when participants make only self-reference judgments. Focal age differences emerged in regions related to emotional processing and cognitive control, though these differences are more limited than in tasks in which judgments also are made about others. We conclude that making judgments about another person differently affects the ways that younger and older adults make judgments about the self, with results of a follow-up behavioral study supporting this interpretation.

The Integrative Self: How Self-Reference Integrates Perception and Memory

“…These studies indicate that the result holds across a wide age-range (from children to older adults). Indeed, these effects of selfreference on memory can even increase in older adults [17][18][19], perhaps because older people become more self-focused, because they have problems in seeing other people's perspective [20,21], or because of reduced memory and executive processes outside those based on selfreference [22][23][24][25][26]. This last argument raises the possibility that effects of self-reference operate independently of executive and elaborative encoding strategies that otherwise modulate memory.…”

The role of hippocampus in the retrieval of autobiographical memories in patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer's disease

“…Moreover, the orbito-frontal areas, such as BA10, which are strongly interconnected with the MTLs (Aggleton & Brown, 1999), have been found to be activated during autobiographical memory tasks. In particular, this brain region seems to be involved in self-referential processing (Gutchess et al, 2015;Kelley et al, 2002), which is considered a key element in autobiographical memory. On one hand, this process is tied to the feeling of autonoetic consciousness (Kalenzaga, Buga€ ıska, & Clarys, 2013;Tulving, 2002); on the other hand, it provides a basis for the development of the autobiographical memory system over time (Howe & Courage, 1997).…”

Social function and motivation in the aging brain.

“…(Gutchess, Kensinger, & Schacter, 2007). This convergence with age extends to encoding self-referenced words into memory (Gutchess et al, 2015). However, making judgments about other people seems to impact the similarity of neural activity with age.…”