Age-related dedifferentiation and hyperdifferentiation of perceptual and mnemonic representations.

ABSTRACT: Preliminary evidence indicates that occipito-temporal activation patterns for different visual stimuli are less distinct in older (OAs) than younger (YAs) adults, suggesting a dedifferentiation of visual representations with aging. Yet, it is unclear if this deficit (1) affects only sensory or also categorical aspects of representations during visual perception (perceptual representations), and (2) affects only perceptual or also mnemonic representations. To investigate these issues, we fMRI-scanned YAs and OAs viewing and then remembering visual scenes. First, using representational similarity analyses, we distinguished sensory vs. categorical features of perceptual representations. We found that, compared to YAs, sensory features in early visual cortex were less differentiated in OAs (i.

SUBMITTER: Deng L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12268951 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature