Abstract
Long-term memory can improve when incoming information is congruent with known semantic information. This so-called congruence effect has widely been shown in younger adults, but age-related changes and neural mechanisms remain unclear. Here, congruence improved recognition memory in younger and older adults (i.e. congruence effect), with only weak evidence for age-related decline in one behavioral study. In an EEG study, however, no significant behavioral differences in the congruence effect could be observed between age-groups. In line with this observation, electroencephalography data show that, in both groups, congruence led to widespread differences in Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), starting at around 400 ms after stimulus onset, and theta, alpha and beta oscillations (4–20 Hz). Importantly, these congruence-related ERPs were associated to increases in memory performance for congruent items, in both age groups. Finally, the described ERPs and neural oscillations in the theta-alpha range (5–13 Hz) were less pronounced in the elderly despite a preserved congruence effect. Together, semantic congruence increases long-term memory across the lifespan, and, at the neural level, this could be linked to neural oscillations in the theta, alpha and beta range, as well as ERPs that were previously associated with semantic processing.
Highlights
Long-term memory can improve when incoming information is congruent with known semantic information
We investigated the neural processes underlying the semantic congruence effect and its relationship with healthy aging
Our results demonstrate that semantic congruence boosts long-term memory in both age groups
Summary
Long-term memory can improve when incoming information is congruent with known semantic information This so-called congruence effect has widely been shown in younger adults, but age-related changes and neural mechanisms remain unclear. There is increasing support for a basic congruence dependent mechanism associated with the integration of memories into long-term knowledge structures or schemas[8,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19] According to this framework, the semantic congruence matching during encoding may be an initial step in such a general schema-dependent process of memory integration which entails interactions between the medial temporal lobe and the prefrontal cortex that favor an efficient retention and a faster consolidation of congruent events. In patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment, abnormalities in the late positive P600 appear at early stages, with changes in the P300 and N400 being more common at later stages[39,40]
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