The development of declarative memory systems in the brain
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1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Neuroimaging evidence implicates the involvement of regions in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), parietal cortex, and medial temporal lobes (MTL) in declarative memory processes in adults. There is limited evidence, however, as for the development of declarative memory systems in the brain. We examined functional brain development of memory encoding and retrieval in two separate studies. The first study investigated memory formation in 49 participants (ages 8–24) who studied 250 pictures while being scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The second study investigated memory retrieval in 73 participants (ages 8-24) who studied 140 pictures and were later scanned during a recognition test while making old/new decisions for previously studied and additional 140 pictures. Recognition memory improved with age in both studies. Brain activations associated with memory were found in MTL and PFC across all participants. In both experiments, activations increased with age in specific PFC, but not in MTL, regions. Memory-related activations during retrieval in lateral parietal cortex also increased with age. These results suggest that regions in the PFC and parietal cortex that are important for declarative memory processes have protracted developmental trajectory. Developmental effects in MTL regions may be more subtle and appear for more demanding memory tasks or memorization of more complex materials.
Conference:
Conference on Neurocognitive Development, Berkeley, CA, United States, 12 Jul - 14 Jul, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Learning and memory
Citation:
Ofen
N
(2009). The development of declarative memory systems in the brain.
Conference Abstract:
Conference on Neurocognitive Development.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.10.020
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Received:
06 Jul 2009;
Published Online:
06 Jul 2009.
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Correspondence:
Noa Ofen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Paris, United States, noaofen@gmail.com