Neurodevelopmental correlates of true and false recognition

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) effect demonstrates false recognition of non-studied items semantically linked to presented items.
• Previous behavioral studies indicate age-related increases in the DRM false-recognition effect.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate neurodevelopmental changes in brain regions supporting true and false memory recognition across childhood and adulthood.
• To examine age-related alterations in brain activation during memory tasks.

Main Methods:

• Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
• Participants included 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults.
• Memory recognition for studied items and critical lures was assessed.

Main Results:

• Adults showed higher rates of correctly recognizing studied items and falsely recognizing critical lures compared to 8-year-olds.
• Age-related increases in recollection correlated with medial temporal lobe (MTL) activation changes.
• Increased false alarms to semantic lures were linked to left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activation, associated with semantic processing.

Conclusions:

• Neurodevelopmental changes in the MTL, prefrontal cortex, and parietal cortex contribute to enhanced true and false memory recognition from childhood to adulthood.
• These brain region changes underpin the observed developmental trajectory of memory performance.