To boost or to CRUNCH? Effect of effortful encoding on episodic memory in older adults is dependent on executive functioning.

ABSTRACT: It is essential to develop effective interventions aimed at ameliorating age-related cognitive decline. Previous studies found that effortful encoding benefits episodic memory in older adults. However, to date it is unclear whether this benefit is different for individuals with strong versus weak executive functioning (EF). Fifty-one older adults were recruited and divided into low (N = 26) and high (N = 25) functioning groups, based on their EF capacity. All participants performed a semantic and a perceptual incidental encoding task. Each encoding task was performed under four difficulty levels to establish different effort levels. Encoding was followed by a recognition task. Results showed that the high EF group benefitted from increased effort in both tasks. However, the low EF group on

SUBMITTER: Fu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5362088 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature