Grant: Catalyst Grant: Pilot Projects in Aging

Memory loss is a hallmark of cognitive aging. Older adults show marked decline in the ability to take in complex information - such as when and how to take a new prescription drug - and to remember this information when needed. Memory impairment can negatively affect older individuals' mental and physical health, at significant cost to the health care system. It is therefore imperative for cognitive aging researchers to identify factors that may reduce or delay memory loss in the elderly. Recent work by the applicant (Spaniol et al., 2009) suggests that positive motivation - mediated by dopamine pathways in the brain and experimentally induced with reward incentives - may be one such factor. However, the neurobiological mechanisms of motivated learning have not been studied in aging. The proposed pilot study will be the first to do so, by comparing the neural correlates of reward-enhanced memory in younger and older adults with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This work has the potential to inform the development of innovative behavioural and pharmacological interventions to minimize age-related memory decline.