The impact of aging and repetition on eye movements and recognition memory

ABSTRACT

The modulation of gaze fixations on neural activity in the hippocampus, a region critical for memory, has been shown to be weaker in older adults compared to younger adults. However, as such research has relied on indirect measures of memory, it remains unclear whether the relationship between visual exploration and direct measures of memory is similarly disrupted in aging. The current study tested older and younger adults on a face memory eye-tracking task previously used by our group that showed that recognition memory for faces presented across variable, but not fixed, viewpoints relies on a hippocampal-dependent binding function. Here, we examined how aging influences eye movement measures that reveal the amount (cumulative sampling) and extent (distribution of gaze fixations) of visual exploration. We also examined how aging influences direct (subsequent conscious recognition) and indirect (eye movement repetition effect) expressions of memory. No age differences were found in direct recognition regardless of facial viewpoint. However, the eye movement measures revealed key group differences. Compared to younger adults, older adults exhibited more cumulative sampling, a different distribution of fixations, and a larger repetition effect. Moreover, there was a positive relationship between cumulative sampling and direct recognition in younger adults, but not older adults. Neither age group showed a relationship between the repetition effect and direct recognition. Thus, despite similar direct recognition, age-related differences were observed in visual exploration and in an indirect eye-movement memory measure, suggesting that the two groups may acquire, retain, and use different facial information to guide recognition.

KEYWORDS:

• Recognition memory
• eye movements
• aging
• relational memory
• hippocampus

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to R.K.O. (CIHR; PJT- 162292), J.D.R. (PJT-162274), and M.D.B. (PJT-173336). R.K.O. is also supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; RGPIN-2017-06178) and the Alzheimer Society of Canada. M.D.B. is also supported by a Scholar Award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation. N.M. is supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [PJT- 162292,PJT-162274,PJT-173336]; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [RGPIN-2017-06178].