Angela H. Gutchess - US grants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal investigates age-related changes in socioemotional memory using behavioral and neuroimaging studies. Previous behavioral studies provide some evidence of age-invariant memory for meaningful information with socioemotional significance, in contrast to the pattern of pervasive age-related declines in long-term memory for other types of information. However, very little is known thus far about the cognitive mechanisms that support these effects and how socioemotional information is immune to the cognitive declines catalogued in much of the cognitive aging literature. We posit that socioemotional information supports relatively age-equivalent general memory for social information, such as remembering whether something is "good" or "bad". This type of memory will be supported by the automatic engagement of the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. In young adults, these regions respond to socioemotional information regardless of the task demands, and we predict that they support age-invariant automatic processes that contribute to general memory. In contrast, we propose that specific memory for the details of episodes, such as the behaviors that contribute to an overall impression of character, will be disproportionately impaired with age, relative to general memory. We predict that older adults will encode less detailed socioemotional information than young adults, revealing limitations to the privileged status afforded social information in memory. Memory for specific details will require controlled processes, subserved by medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and these processes will be affected by aging. The proposed studies will substantially advance the understanding of: 1) how motivating socioemotional conditions can improve older adults'memory, 2) how socioemotional conditions are limited in the ways that they contribute to memory, 3) how aging affects the response of neural regions that contribute to the processing of social information, and 4) how the neural regions supporting social memory interact with neural regions that subserve controlled processing. The few neuroimaging studies to date to investigate the effects of aging on neural regions implicated in socioemotional information processing focus largely on the neural response to emotional information. Our studies take a novel approach by focusing on the neural response to social, interpersonal information regarding character, which differs from the arousing, or overtly emotional, stimuli that have been employed previously. In sum, the results from these studies will provide insights into effective ways to support memory function with age, as well as advance understanding of how the relative patterns of stability and change in the brain with age contribute to social memory. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Increasing our understanding of how socioemotional information contributes to memory with age will provide insights into how to improve the effectiveness of older adults'memory and decision making. This proposal investigates the ways in which socioemotional information enhances memory and engages neural resources, but also explores the limitations to these benefits. While general memory and its neural correlates may be relatively preserved with age, breakdowns in specific memory could leave older adults vulnerable to fraud and deception.

This project investigates cross-cultural differences in memory. In six experiments that integrate behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods, this approach analyzes how the details people remember for visual images differ across cultures. The lens of culture can direct preferred modes of processing and/or attention to particular features of the environment, and this will affect what is remembered. In a comparison of East Asian, Turkish, and Western (i.e., American) cultures, Angela Gutchess of Brandeis University will examine cultural differences in exactly what people remember. Americans are predicted to remember more specific details due to their preferential attention to features. In contrast, the groups will be well-matched on general memory, which is not dependent upon attention to features. Predicted cultural differences in memory should reflect the use of intentional strategies, and directing people's attention to specific, relevant features should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory. Furthermore, aging, which reduces the availability of cognitive capacities to deploy strategies and process details in explicit memory, should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory specificity. In contrast, for implicit memory, cultural differences in memory for specific details will continue to be observed because the development of implicit memories is not thought to depend on cognitive capacity. Functional neuroimaging methods will provide converging evidence for cultural differences in memory specificity, and identifying neural regions will help the PI to distinguish between different theoretical accounts for why people from different cultures remember things differently.

The intellectual merits of the proposal include examining cultural differences across both explicit and implicit memory, which are thought to be separable memory systems. To date, the majority of research findings on memory are based on Western populations, meaning that theories of memory may largely characterize Westerners and may not generalize to other populations. The study of cultural differences will lead to a more inclusive field of psychology, with a better understanding of which memory principles are universals vs. are culture-dependent. The proposed work will make substantial advances in understanding the mechanisms of cross-cultural differences in memory specificity by employing a multimethod approach using sensitive memory measures, including neuroimaging.

By studying memory in a multicultural world, the proposed studies may contribute to better cross-cultural understanding as well as better scientific understanding. Little work has investigated cultures outside of the East/West dichotomy. If the nature of memory formation differs across cultures, this could help people better understand why people from Eastern and Western cultures often view the world differently because what we remember powerfully shapes what we believe. In legal settings, for example, people who remember more details of the situation in which a crime was committed may hold a perpetrator less responsible than people who focus solely on (and disproportionately remember) the perpetrator's actions. Diverse populations will also be included in this research through international collaboration and participation of non-Westerners in the proposed research. This will provide a training ground for young scientists across international sites and heightening their awareness of the impact of culture on psychological processes. Finally, the work will be broadly disseminated through participation in international conferences as well as science outreach programs.

The effects of aging are largely assumed to be universal across different cultures. Few studies test this assumption of universality, with some revealing cross-cultural differences in cognition with age. The proposed research will assess how culture (American/Taiwan) and cultural values (collectivism/independence) affect cognitive aging by comparing younger and older adults across cultures using behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) measures. The research program will employ longitudinal measures, assessing behavior and brain changes in the same individuals after a 3 year follow-up. Longitudinal approaches are important to establish that differences between extreme age groups (e.g., 20 vs. 70 year olds) reflect effects of aging rather than other potential cohort differences. Even longitudinal follow-up periods as short as a few years are sufficient to identify declines in performance or the volume of some brain regions, though less work has investigated effects of aging on functional brain activity longitudinally. Moreover, longitudinal measures may have sensitivity to identify exaggerated declines in aging, which could indicate pathological processes associated with aging, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer?s disease (AD). That is, older adults who show poorer levels of performance on neuropsychological, decision making, or memory tasks at time 1 may show more pronounced decline at time 2, compared to those older adults performing at higher levels. Pronounced decline over time may serve as a marker of pathological aging (e.g., MCI or AD). The tasks selected for this research have shown promise in detecting dysfunctional patterns of aging; we will further test whether the markers are equally sensitive across cultures. Although both decision making and memory abilities can be affected by aging, the selected tasks engage largely complementary systems, with value-based decision making relying on frontostriatal systems and memory processes engaging medial temporal regions. One framework suggests that these systems differ in their vulnerability to pathological aging processes (e.g., AD) such that the frontostriatal systems largely reflect typical aging processes whereas AD disproportionately impacts temporo- parietal regions. We can test this model in the proposed research by studying decision making and memory processes across younger and older adults longitudinally, extending the model across cultures. The proposed research will address three major questions: 1) how do culture and cultural values contribute to value-based decision-making with age, 2) does aging consistently impact explicit memory across cultures, and 3) to what extent do cultural differences in decision making and memory generalize from cross-sectional to longitudinal (within-participant) measures of aging. This research will be led by two researchers with a history of collaboration who have established lines of aging research in the US (Gutchess) and Taiwan (Goh). Furthermore, the PIs areas of research expertise are complementary, with Dr. Goh?s lab investigating effects of age and culture and decision making and Dr. Gutchess? lab focused on effects of age and culture on memory.

Does cultural background impact how people perceive the visual world and what they remember? Many assume that psychological processes are universal and not affected by native country or culture. But recently there has been increased appreciation of the ways in which an individual?s background can impact perceptual or memory processes. Prior work on cultural differences has largely considered memory and visual perception as separate processes and most of the work on visual processes has been restricted to evaluating face perception. The current project examines whether cultures differ in the visual features they preferentially perceive: Do they tend to perceive global, overall shape or fine detail? Does culture affect how quickly each type of visual information is processed or whether it dominates conscious experience? Does any difference in perception affect later memory for scenes? These are issues of global importance and will contribute to the development of a globally-minded workforce by exposing students and trainees to cross-cultural research. The investigators will also engage in outreach activities at a diverse local high school. Participating in these outreach activities will also train members of the team in effective scientific outreach and communication.

Four experiments will investigate cultural differences in 1) the relative dominance of high versus low spatial frequency information in vision, for stable percepts as well as those that compete dynamically for dominance, 2) brain markers of early attention processes versus markers of expectation or salience, using electroencephalography (EEG), 3) short-term memory, in comparison with perceptual judgments, and 4) measures of sensitivity (i.e., ability to accurately distinguish different types of information) versus response bias (i.e., a tendency to respond in a particular way). Extant models of visual perception and memory were predominantly developed based on the study of "WEIRD" subjects (Western, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries). By systematically comparing across cultures, this research project will increase understanding of the interplay of culture, perception, and memory processes in our species.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.