Event Abstract Back to Event Memory suppression develops over childhood M. C. Anderson1, S. A. Bunge2, 3, S. Ghetti4 and P. M. Paz-Alonso2, 5* 1 MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, United Kingdom 2 Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, United States 3 University of California, Berkeley , Department of Psychology, United States 4 University of California, Davis, Department of Psychology and CMB, United States 5 University of Granada, Department of Experimental Psychology, Spain Neuroimaging evidence with adults indicates that attempts to suppress memory retrieval are associated with increased lateral PFC activation and decreased medial temporal lobe (MTL) activation relative to unregulated memory retrieval (Anderson et al., Science, 2004). We will report results from our behavioral and fMRI studies aimed at investigating age-related differences in memory suppression in children aged 8 to 12 and adults (N =70), and the neurodevelopmental correlates of this effect (N = 45). Behaviorally, we found that the ability to suppress memories in the TNT paradigm improved from age 8-12, and did not differ between late childhood and young adulthood. Indeed, 8-9 year-old children failed to show significant memory suppression. Neurally, we found that 11-12-year-olds and adults, but not 8-9-year-olds, exhibited decreased MTL activation during memory suppression. In adults, but not in the other age groups, mid-dorsolateral (BA 9) and mid-ventrolateral (BA 44) PFC were selectively engaged during successful memory suppression – i.e., during attempts to forget associations that were, in fact, subsequently forgotten. These results indicate that the ability to forget to-be-forgotten associations develops over childhood, and relies on strengthened control over memory retrieval by lateral PFC. Conference: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Frontal Lobe Development Citation: Anderson MC, Bunge SA, Ghetti S and Paz-Alonso PM (2010). Memory suppression develops over childhood. Conference Abstract: The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00075 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 29 Jun 2010; Published Online: 29 Jun 2010. * Correspondence: P. M Paz-Alonso, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, nemoABS01@frontiersin.org Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers M. C Anderson S. A Bunge S. Ghetti P. M Paz-Alonso Google M. C Anderson S. A Bunge S. Ghetti P. M Paz-Alonso Google Scholar M. C Anderson S. A Bunge S. Ghetti P. M Paz-Alonso PubMed M. C Anderson S. A Bunge S. Ghetti P. M Paz-Alonso Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.