Aging reduces EEG markers of recognition despite intact performance: Implications for forensic memory detection

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Forensic Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Event-related potentials (ERPs) are used in forensic memory detection, assuming guilty individuals exhibit recognition-related brain activity.
• Aging can alter brain activity, potentially impacting the accuracy of age-sensitive cognitive tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the validity of ERP-based forensic memory detection in older adults.
• To compare age-related changes in ERPs and EEG oscillations during episodic and forensic memory tasks.

Main Methods:

• Measured ERPs and EEG oscillations in younger (<30) and older (>65) adults during episodic recognition and forensic memory detection tasks.
• Included EEG oscillations as a measure less sensitive to temporal variability than ERPs.

Main Results:

• Older adults showed significantly reduced recognition-related parietal ERP positivities compared to younger adults, despite similar behavioral performance.
• Aging-related reductions in oscillatory markers were observed in the forensic memory detection task, but not in the episodic recognition task.

Conclusions:

• Aging-induced reductions in parietal ERP positivities affect both forensic and episodic recognition, but potentially through different mechanisms.
• EEG-based forensic memory detection tests may have limited validity and practical application in older adult populations.