Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

With age, our ability to vividly re-experience past events declines, which can subsequently decrease well-being. HippoCamera is a smartphone-based application that improves episodic recollection by guiding users to record and replay cues for real-world events using established mnemonic strategies. Here, we followed older adults who used HippoCamera 3.5-6 years prior to investigate whether previously demonstrated memory benefits persisted. Using a mixed-methods approach, we found improved subjective re-experiencing for events that were recorded and replayed using HippoCamera, with extended benefits to sense of meaning and well-being. These results demonstrate long-lasting effects of a smartphone-based tool that improves real-world event memory.