Gist memory may be why false memories are more common in older adults

  • Gist processing appears to play a strong role in false memories.
  • Older adults rely on gist memory more.
  • Older adults find it harder to recall specific sensory details that would help confirm whether a memory is true.















What does all this mean? Here’s what’s important:




The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.


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Eye movements get re-enacted when we remember








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Tell a friend what you learned





Researcher found:

  • But those given cues did better at remembering peripheral details.
  • Cues didn’t significantly affect the memory of more substantial matters.






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The importance of retrieval cues



New insights into memory without conscious awareness



Brain activity linked to anticipation revealed

Brain scans of students listening to their favorite music CDs has revealed plenty of neural activity during the silence between songs — activity that is absent in those listening to music they had never heard in sequence before. Such anticipatory activity probably occurs whenever we expect any particular action to happen. In this case, the activity took the form of excitatory signals passing from the prefrontal cortex (where planning takes place) to the nearby premotor cortex (which is involved in preparing the body to act).

Leaver, A.M. et al. 2009. Brain Activation during Anticipation of Sound Sequences. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 2477-2485.

How we think before we speak: Making sense of sentences

Analysis of the changes in brain activity that occurred when volunteers heard or read critical sentences as part of a longer text or placed in some other type of context, has revealed how anticipatory and contextual our comprehension is. The brain relates unfolding sentences to earlier ones astonishingly quickly (brain effects usually occur before a word is even finished being spoken), and findings indicate that it does this by trying to predict upcoming information. In addition to the words themselves, the person speaking them is a crucial component in understanding what is being said. The study found brain effects occurring very rapidly when the content of a statement being spoken did not match with the voice of the speaker (e.g. "I have a large tattoo on my back" in an upper-class accent or "I like olives" in a young child's voice). It also appears that grammar is less important than various heuristics that help you arrive at the earliest possible interpretation. Speed is more important than accuracy. “Language comprehension is opportunistic, proactive, and, above all, immediately context-dependent.”

Berkum, J.J.A. 2008. Understanding Sentences in Context: What Brain Waves Can Tell Us. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17 (6), 376-380.

Gut feelings may actually reflect a reliable memory

Recently, there has been increased interest in the power of implicit, or unconscious, memory. In the latest study, participants were briefly shown a series of colorful kaleidoscope images and asked to memorise them. Half the time, they simultaneously heard a spoken single-digit number, which they had to keep in mind until the next trial, when they indicated whether it was odd or even. On every trial they had to listen to a new number and press a button to complete the number task. They were tested a short time after the learning period by having to recognize the images they had seen earlier, from pairs of similar kaleidoscope images. It was found that people were more accurate in selecting the old image when they had been distracted than when they had paid full attention, and were also more accurate when they claimed to be guessing than when they thought an image was familiar. During implicit recognition took place, a different pattern of brain activity was observed than that seen with conscious memory experiences, specifically, frontal-occipital negative brain potentials 200–400 ms after participants saw the old image.

Voss, J.L. & Paller, K.A 2009. An electrophysiological signature of unconscious recognition memory. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 349–355.

Searching in space is like searching your mind

A study of search modes in both spatial and abstract settings has found evidence that how we look for things, such as our car keys or umbrella, could be related to how we search for more abstract needs, such as words in memory or solutions to problems. The studies compared two search modes: exploitation, where seekers stay with a place or task until they have gotten appreciable benefit from it, and exploration, where seekers move quickly from one place or one task to another, looking for a new set of resources to exploit. In the study, participants "foraged" in a computerized world, moving around until they stumbled upon a hidden supply of resources, then deciding if and when to move on, and in which direction. The scientists tracked their movements. Two different worlds ("clumpy", with fewer but richer resources, and "diffuse", with many more, but much smaller, supplies) encouraged one mode or other. The idea was to "prime" the optimal foraging strategy for each world. The volunteers then participated in a more abstract, intellectual search task -- a computerized game akin to Scrabble. It was found that although the human brain appears capable of using exploration or exploitation search modes depending on the demands of the task, it also has a tendency through "priming" to continue searching in the same way even if in a different domain, such as when switching from a spatial to an abstract task. Moreover, people who have a tendency to use one mode more in one task have a similar tendency to use that mode more in other tasks. The findings also support the view that goal-directed cognition is an evolutionary descendant of spatial-foraging behavior.

Hills, T.T., Todd, P.M. & Goldstone, R.L. 2008. Search in External and Internal Spaces: Evidence for Generalized Cognitive Search Processes. Psychological Science, 19 (8), 802-808.

More light shed on memory retrieval

A new technique has confirmed the idea that when we retrieve memories we try to reinstate our original mindset, when we formed the memory. As you search for memories of a particular event, your brain state progressively comes to resemble the state it was in when you initially experienced the event, as one memory triggers another. They also found patterns of brain activity for specific categories, such as faces, started to emerge approximately five seconds before subjects recalled items from that category — suggesting that participants were bringing to mind the general properties of the images in order to cue for specific details. The technique also enabled researchers to predict with reasonable accuracy what items participants would successfully recall.

Polyn, S.M., Natu, V.S., Cohen, J.D. & Norman, K.A. 2005. Category-Specific Cortical Activity Precedes Retrieval During Memory Search. Science, 310 (5756), 1963–1966.

Role of hippocampus in long term memory

The role of the hippocampus in the formation of new memories has been well-documented, and we know that the hippocampus is involved in transferring immediate or short-term memories into long-term memories. However, its specific contribution to the representation of very well-learned information is not well understood. Now a study has recorded the activity of individual hippocampal neurons as monkeys retrieved information from memory, demonstrating significantly different response when the stimuli were well-learned, compared to novel stimuli. This differentiated response in the hippocampus provides strong evidence for a memory signal specific for well-learned information, and suggests a way for well-learned information to be incorporated into everyday memories.

Yanike, M., Wirth, S. & Suzuki, W.A. 2004. Representation of Well-Learned Information in the Monkey Hippocampus. Neuron, 42 (3), 477-487.

How we retrieve distant memories

We know that recent memories are stored in the hippocampus, but these memories do not remain there forever. It has been less clear how we retrieve much older memories. Now studies of mice genetically altered to be unable to recall old memories have demonstrated that a part of the cortex called the anterior cingulate is critical for this process. It is suggested that, rather than this structure being the storage site for old memories, the anterior cingulate assembles signals of an old memory from different sites in the brain. Dementia may result from a malfunction in this assembling process, leaving the memory too fragmented to make proper sense. Both ageing and certain aspects of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are all accompanied by reduced activity in the anterior cingulate.

Frankland, P.W., Bontempi, B., Talton, L.E., Kaczmarek, L. & Silva, A.J. 2004. The Involvement of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Remote Contextual Fear Memory. Science, 304, 881-883.

Norepinephrine important in retrieving memories

In the first description of a molecule implicated in recalling memories as opposed to laying down new memories, researchers have found that the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is essential in retrieving certain types of memories. The studies involved mutant mice lacking norepinephrine and rats treated with drugs that block some norepinephrine receptors (beta blockers). The results run counter to currently held hypotheses that suggest that stress hormones like norepinephrine are responsible for the formation of long-term consolidation of emotional memories, instead finding that norepinephrine was critical for retrieving intermediate-term contextual and spatial memories. The research may help us better understand post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, both of which involve alterations in memory retrieval in different ways.

Murchison, C.F., Zhang, X-Y., Zhang, W-P., Ouyang, M., Lee, A. & Thomas, S.A. 2004. A Distinct Role for Norepinephrine in Memory Retrieval. Cell, 117 (1), 131-143.

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Distinguishing normal cognitive decline from more serious disorders

Data from two longitudinal studies of older adults (a nationally representative sample of older adults, and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative) has found that a brief cognitive test can distinguish memory decline associated with healthy aging from more serious memory disorders, years before obvious symptoms show up.

Moreover, the data challenge the idea that memory continues to decline through old age: after excluding the cognitively impaired, there was no evidence of further memory declines after the age of 69.


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Forgetfulness in old age may be related to changes in retrieval strategy

April, 2013

A study of younger and older adults indicates that memory search tends to decline with age because, with reduced cognitive control, seniors’ minds tend to ‘flit’ too quickly from one information cluster to another.

Evidence is accumulating that age-related cognitive decline is rooted in three related factors: processing speed slows down (because of myelin degradation); the ability to inhibit distractions becomes impaired; working memory capacity is reduced.

A new study adds to this evidence by looking at one particular aspect of age-related cognitive decline: memory search.

The study put 185 adults aged 29-99 (average age 67) through three cognitive tests: a vocabulary test, digit span (a working memory test), and the animal fluency test, in which you name as many animals as you can in one minute.

Typically, in the animal fluency test, people move through semantic categories such as ‘pets’, ‘big cats’, and so on. The best performers are those who move from category to category with optimal timing — i.e., at the point where the category has been sufficiently exhausted that efforts would be better spent on a new one.

Participants recalled on average 17 animal names, with a range from 5 to 33. While there was a decline with age, it wasn’t particularly marked until the 80s (an average of 18.3 for those in their 30s, 17.5 for those in their 60s, 16.5 for the 70s, 12.8 for the 80s, and 10 for the 90s). Digit span did show a decline, but it was not significant (from 17.5 down to 15.3), while vocabulary (consistent with previous research) showed no decline with age.

But all this is by the by — the nub of the experiment was to discover how individuals were searching their memory. This required a quite complicated analysis, which I will not go into, except to mention two important distinctions. The first is between:

  • global context cue: activates each item in the active category according to how strong it is (how frequently it has been recalled in the past);
  • local context cue: activates each item in relation to its semantic similarity to the previous item recalled.

A further distinction was made between static and dynamic processes: in dynamic models, it is assumed the user switches between local and global search. This, it is further assumed, is because memory is ‘patchy’ – that is, information is represented in clusters. Within a cluster, we use local cues, but to move from one cluster to another, we use global cues.

The point of all this was to determine whether age-related decline in memory search has to do with:

  • Reduced processing speed,
  • Persisting too long on categories, or
  • Inability to maintain focus on local cues (this would relate it back to the inhibition deficit).

By modeling the exact recall patterns, the researchers ascertained that the recall process is indeed dynamic, although the points of transition are not clearly understood. The number of transitions from one cluster to another was negatively correlated with age; it was also strongly positively correlated with performance (number of items recalled). Digit span, assumed to measure ‘cognitive control’, was also negatively correlated with number of transitions, but, as I said, was not significantly correlated with age.

In other words, it appears that there is a qualitative change with age, that increasing age is correlated with increased switching, and reduced cognitive control is behind this — although it doesn’t explain it all (perhaps because we’re still not able to fully measure cognitive control).

At a practical level, the message is that memory search may become less efficient because, as people age, they tend to change categories too frequently, before they have exhausted their full potential. While this may well be a consequence of reduced cognitive control, it seems likely (to me at least) that making a deliberate effort to fight the tendency to move on too quickly will pay dividends for older adults who want to improve their memory retrieval abilities.

Nor is this restricted to older adults — since age appears to be primarily affecting performance through its effects on cognitive control, it is likely that this applies to those with reduced working memory capacity, of any age.


[3378] Hills, T. T., Mata R., Wilke A., & Samanez-Larkin G. R.
(2013).  Mechanisms of Age-Related Decline in Memory Search Across the Adult Life Span.
Developmental Psychology. No - Pagination Specified.



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Improving memory for specific events can help depression

November, 2012













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Each memory experience biases how you approach the next one

September, 2012

A new study provides evidence that our decision to encode information as new or try and retrieve it from long-term memory is affected by how we treated the last bit of information processed.













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Second language processing differs for negative words

June, 2012


Here’s an intriguing study for those interested in how language affects how we think. It’s also of interest to those who speak more than one language or are interested in learning another language, because it deals with the long-debated question as to whether bilinguals working in their non-native language automatically access the native-language representations in long-term memory, or whether they can ‘switch off’ their native language and use only the target language memory codes.

The study follows on from an earlier study by the same researchers that indicated, through the demonstration of hidden priming effects, that bilinguals subconsciously access their first language when reading in their second language. In this new study, 45 university students (15 native English speakers, 15 native Chinese speakers, and 15 Chinese-English bilinguals) were shown two blocks of 90 word pairs. The pairs could have positive emotional value (e.g., honesty-program), negative valence (failure-poet), or neutral valence (aim-carpenter); could be semantically related (virus-bacteria; love-rose) or unrelated (weather-gender). The English or Chinese words were flashed on the screen one at a time, with a brief interval between the first and second word. The students had to indicate whether the second word was related in meaning to the first, and their brain activity was monitored.

The English and Chinese speakers acted as controls — it was the bilinguals, of course, who were the real interest. Some of the English word pairs shared a sound in the Chinese translation. If the Chinese words were automatically activated, therefore, the sound repetition would have a priming effect.

This is indeed what was found (confirming the earlier finding and supporting the idea that native language translations are automatically activated) — but here’s the interesting thing: the priming effect occurred only for positive and neutral words. It did not occur when the bilinguals saw negative words such as war, discomfort, inconvenience, and unfortunate.

The finding, which surprised the researchers, is nonetheless consistent with previous evidence that anger, swearing or discussing intimate feelings has more power in a speaker's native language. Parents, too, tend to speak to their infants in their native tongue. Emotion, it seems, is more strongly linked to our first language.

It’s traditionally thought that second language processing is fundamentally determined by the age of acquisition and the level of proficiency. The differences in emotional resonance have been, naturally enough, attributed to the native language being acquired first. This finding suggests the story is a little more complicated.

The researchers theorize that they have touched on the mechanism by which emotion controls our fundamental thought processes. They suggest that the brain is trying to protect us by minimizing the effect of distressing or disturbing emotional content, by shutting down the unconscious access to the native language (in which the negative words would be more strongly felt).

A few more technical details for those interested:

The Chinese controls demonstrated longer reaction times than the English controls, which suggests (given that 60% of the Chinese word pairs had overt sound repetitions but no semantic relatedness) that this conjunction made the task substantially more difficult. The bilinguals, however, had reaction times comparable to the English controls. The Chinese controls showed no effect of emotional valence, but did show priming effects of the overt sound manipulation that were equal for all emotion conditions.

The native Chinese speakers had recently arrived in Britain to attend an English course. Bilinguals had been exposed to English since the age of 12 and had lived in Britain for an average of 20.5 months.


[2969] Wu, Y J., & Thierry G.
(2012).  How Reading in a Second Language Protects Your Heart.
The Journal of Neuroscience. 32(19), 6485 - 6489.



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Menopause ‘brain fog’ a product of poor sleep and depression?

May, 2012

A smallish study of women approaching and in menopause found that some experienced poorer working memory and attention, and these were more likely to have poorer sleep, depression, and anxiety.













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