Age differences in the neural correlates underlying control of emotional memory: An event-related potential study

Abstract

The ability to selectively remember important information and forget irrelevant details is fundamental to successful memory. Research has shown that both younger and older adults can intentionally remember and forget information varying in emotional valence; however, whether the neural correlates of these processes change with age is unknown. In this event-related potential (ERP) study, we sought to fill this knowledge gap using the item-directed forgetting (DF) task. Younger and older adults encoded positive, negative, or neutral words that were cued as either to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF), while brain activity was recorded with electroencephalography (EEG). Behaviorally, both age groups showed DF effects, although the magnitude of DF was reduced in older adults. Moreover, DF was not influenced by the emotional valence of words in either age group. In the brain, age differences emerged across both word- and cue-related ERPs. Whereas the late positive potential (LPP) was greater for negative than positive words in younger adults, older adults showed a reduced LPP for negative versus positive items. In response to memory cues, younger adults’ ERPs showed enhanced parietal and frontal positivity following TBR and TBF cues, respectively. In contrast, older adults displayed greater frontal activity while encoding TBR items than younger adults but age invariance in parietal ERPs following TBR cues. Together, these findings suggest that both younger and older adults are able to intentionally forget information that varies in emotional valence but that the neural mechanisms underlying these processes may change with age.