Why older adults remember the good times better

March, 2010

An imaging study has found differences in brain activity that explain why older adults are better at remembering positive events.

An imaging study reveals why older adults are better at remembering positive events. The study, involving young adults (ages 19-31) and older adults (ages 61-80) being shown a series of photographs with positive and negative themes, found that while there was no difference in brain activity patterns between the age groups for the negative photos, there were age differences for the positive photos. In older adult brains, but not the younger, two emotion-processing regions (the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala) strongly influenced the memory-encoding hippocampus.

www.physorg.com/news188645719.html http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/e-oar032410.php

Reference:

[312] Addis, D R., Leclerc C. M., Muscatell K. A., & Kensinger E. A.
(2010). There are age-related changes in neural connectivity during the encoding of positive, but not negative, information.
Cortex. 46(4), 425 - 433.

seniors

Aging

Related News

New brief tool to screen for cognitive impairment in elderly patients

A simple new cognitive assessment tool with only 16 items appears potentially useful for identifying problems in thinking, learning and memory among older adults.

DHA improves memory in older adults with cognitive impairment

There have been mixed findings about the benefits of DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid), but in a study involving 485 older adults (55+) with age-related cognitive impairment, those randomly assigned to take DHA for six months improved the score on a visuospatial learning and episodic memory test.

More evidence that older adults become less able to ignore distraction

A study involving young (average age 22) and older adults (average age 77) showed participants pictures of overlapping faces and places (houses and buildings) and asked them to identify the gender of the person.

Does early retirement dull your brain?

Do retired people tend to perform more poorly on cognitive tests than working people because you’re more likely to retire if your mental skills are starting to decline, or because retirement dulls the brain?

How the Alzheimer’s gene works; implications for treatment

Carriers of the so-called ‘Alzheimer’s gene’ (apoE4) comprise 65% of all Alzheimer's cases. A new study helps us understand why that’s true.

Low testosterone linked to Alzheimer's disease

A Chinese study involving 153 older men (55+; average age 72), of whom 47 had mild cognitive impairment, has found that 10 of those in the

Vitamin B12 may reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease

A seven-year study involving 271 Finns aged 65-79 has revealed that increases in the level of

Heavy smoking in midlife associated with dementia in later years

Data from 21,123 people, surveyed between 1978 and 1985 when in their 50s and tracked for dementia from 1994 to 2008, has revealed that those who smoked more than two packs per day in middle age had more than twice the risk of developing dementia, both Alzheimer's and

Old bees' memory fades too

I love cognitive studies on bees. The whole notion that those teeny-tiny brains are capable of the navigation and communication feats bees demonstrate is so wonderful. Now a new study finds that, just like us, aging bees find it hard to remember the location of a new home.

Walk for your brain’s sake

A long-running study involving 299 older adults (average age 78) has found that those who walked at least 72 blocks during a week of recorded activity (around six to nine miles) had greater gray matter volume nine years later.

Pages