Neurocognitive Aging and the Hippocampus across Species

There is extensive evidence that aging is associated with impairments in episodic memory. Many of these changes have been ascribed to neurobiological alterations to the hippocampal network and its input pathways. A cross-species consensus is beginning to emerge suggesting that subtle synaptic and functional changes within this network may underlie the majority of age-related memory impairments. In this review we survey convergent data from animal and human studies that have contributed significantly to our understanding of the brain-behavior relationships in this network, particularly in the aging brain. We utilize a cognitive as well as a neurobiological perspective and synthesize data across approaches and species to reach a more detailed understanding of age-related alterations in hippocampal memory function.