Implicit associative learning relates to basal ganglia gray matter microstructure in young and older adults.

ABSTRACT: Older adults are impaired at implicit associative learning (IAL), or the learning of relationships between stimuli in the environment without conscious awareness. These age effects have been attributed to differential engagement of the basal ganglia (e.g. caudate, globus pallidus) and hippocampus throughout learning. However, no studies have examined gray matter diffusion relations with IAL, which can reveal microstructural properties that vary with age and contribute to learning. In this study, young (18-29 years) and older (65-87 years) adults completed the Triplet Learning Task, in which participants implicitly learn that the location of cues predict the target location on some trials (high frequency triplets). Diffusion imaging was also acquired and multicompartment diffusion metrics w

SUBMITTER: Franco CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7661017 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature