2-155 - Neural bases of memory development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Memory impairments have been associated with learning disabilities in childhood and mental health disorders in adolescence and adulthood. The extent of memory disruption has been shown to predict long-term functional outcomes, suggesting it may be a potential target for intervention. One road block to developing interventions is that we do not fully understand how change occurs in memory in typical individuals or the mechanisms driving these changes. Neuroimaging methodologies have contributed greatly to understanding of memory and its neural bases in adults. However, far fewer studies have examined neural mechanisms underlying memory development in childhood. The goal of this symposium is to characterize changes in memory and its neural substrates across childhood using cutting edge neuroimaging methodology and analytic techniques. The first presentation will set the stage by examining changes between 8-25 years in functional connectivity between brain regions during a memory task using psychophysiological interaction analyses. The second paper will delve deeper into how specific processes are developing during this period by examining changes in precision and flexibility using multivariate pattern analysis. The third paper extends the discussion to early childhood (4-8 years) and uses resting-state functional connectivity MRI to examine changes in the brain network supporting memory. The final paper hones in on specific structural changes during this period using diffusion tensor imaging. This series of talks will increase understanding of neural mechanisms associated with memory development from early childhood to adulthood. This is an essential first step before interventions can be developed to alter atypical developmental trajectories.

Sub Unit

• Attention, Learning, Memory

Chair

• Tracy Riggins, University of Maryland

Individual Presentations

• Prefrontal cortex contributions to episodic memory development - Presenting Author: Lingfei Tang, Wayne State University; Andrea Shafer, Wayne State University; Noa Ofen, Wayne State University

• Age Differences in Precision and Reinstatement of Neural Representations: Contributions to Memory Development - Presenting Author: Yana Fandakova, UC Davis & UC Berkeley; Sarah Leckey, University of California, Davis; Simona Ghetti, University of California-Davis

• Hippocampal functional connectivity during rest in early childhood: the interplay of age and memory - Presenting Author: Fengji Geng, University of Maryland; Elizabeth Redcay, University of Maryland; Tracy Riggins, University of Maryland

• White matter connectivity and memory development in early childhood - Presenting Author: Chi T. Ngo, Temple University; Kylie H. Alm, Temple; Athanasia Metoki, Temple University; ingrid R. Olson, Temple University; Nora S. Newcombe, Temple University; Tracy Riggins, University of Maryland