Associative recognition memory for identity, spatial and temporal relations in healthy aging

ABSTRACT

The ability to generate associative representations and to retrieve them from long-term episodic memory generally declines in healthy aging. However, it is unclear whether healthy aging has differential effects on associative memory for identity, spatial configuration, and temporal order relationships. In the current study, we assessed how healthy aging impacts on associative memory for identity, spatial, or temporal relationships between pairs of visual objects via discrimination of intact and rearranged pairs. Accuracy and response time performance of healthy older adults (aged 65–80) were compared with young adults (ages 19–30). Age-related declines in associative memory were observed equally for all types of associations, but these declines differed by associative status: aging most strongly affected ability to discriminate rearranged pairs. These results suggest that associative memory for identity, spatial, and temporal relationships are equally affected by healthy aging, and may all depend on a shared set of basic associative mechanisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Associative memory
• aging
• recognition
• temporal
• spatial

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation grant 2497/18 to D.A.L. We thank Moran Ohayon for assistance with theoretical materials, Noy Stein, Neta Bartal, Tal Gigi and Dar Peterburg for data collection, and Shir Ben-Zvi for programming support.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation [2497/18].