Abstract
Research into strategies that can combat episodic memory decline in healthy older adults has gained widespread attention over the years. Evidence suggests that a short period of rest immediately after learning can enhance memory consolidation, as compared to engaging in cognitive tasks. However, a recent study in younger adults has shown that post-encoding engagement in a working memory task leads to the same degree of memory consolidation as from post-encoding rest. Here, we tested whether this finding can be extended to older adults. Using a delayed recognition test, we compared the memory consolidation of word–picture pairs learned prior to 9 min of rest or a 2-Back working memory task, and examined its relationship with executive functioning and mindwandering propensity. Our results show that (1) similar to younger adults, memory for the word–picture associations did not differ when encoding was followed by post-encoding rest or 2-Back task and (2) older adults with higher mindwandering propensity retained more word–picture associations encoded prior to rest relative to those encoded prior to the 2-Back task, whereas participants with lower mindwandering propensity had better memory performance for the pairs encoded prior to the 2-Back task. Overall, our results indicate that the degree of episodic memory consolidation during both active and passive post-encoding periods depends on individual mindwandering tendency.
Highlights
Decline in episodic memory is a hallmark of cognitive ageing [1, 2]
(1) Like in younger adults, does the 2-Back task support memory consolidation in older adults? (2) Would memory consolidation differ between rest and 2-Back conditions depending on individual mindwandering tendency? Similar to our previous study [12], older adults underwent two blocks of incidental encoding of word–picture pairs, each followed by 9 min of rest or a 2-Back task, ending with a recognition test
Descriptive tests between the experimental and demographic measures revealed a trend in correlation across participants between age and mindwandering propensity (MWP) score (Pearson’s r = − 0.38, p = 0.058), suggesting a near-significant decline in mindwandering tendency with advancing age [23]
Summary
Decline in episodic memory is a hallmark of cognitive ageing [1, 2]. An increasing number of studies have been focusing on factors responsible for such deficits as well as strategies to counteract it [3,4,5]. In the area of episodic memory consolidation, a growing amount of research suggests that memory is better retained when participants rest quietly after learning. In our previous studies with younger adults, we demonstrated that engaging in a 2-Back task in the postencoding period leads to the same degree of memory consolidation as from a quiet wakeful rest state [12, 13]. This finding challenges the notion that rest or an absence of external stimulation is essential for successful consolidation. It is likely that the 2-Back task might support consolidation by acting as a cognitive barrier against interference arising from memory processing cued by the environment
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