老龄化对错误记忆影响的神经心理学研究

目的探讨老龄化对错误记忆的神经心理学影响,并对产生老年人错误记忆的神经心理学机制进行研究。方法将60名教育程度相匹配的受试者分为青年组人(44岁及以下)、中年组(45～59岁)、老年组(60岁及以上),每组20名;采用图片诱发的和词汇诱发的错误记忆的实验范式(DRM范式)进行研究。结果老年组图片诱发的错误记忆高于青年组、中年组,差异有统计学意义(P=0. 000,P=0. 000)。中年组词汇诱发的关键诱饵错误再认高于青年组、老年组,差异有统计学意义(P=0. 001,P=0. 000)。老年组词汇诱发的无关项目的错误再认高于中年组、青年组,中年组的高于青年组,这三组之间两两比较差异均有统计学意义(P=0. 032,P=0. 000,P=0. 005);且无关项目的错误再认和学习项目正确再认呈负相关(P=0. 000)。结论老龄化错误记忆的增加不仅与其本身记忆编码和提取功能减退有关,还可能与记忆监测的障碍有关。

A neuropsychological study of the effect of aging on false memory

Objective To explore the neuropsychological effect of aging on false memory, and to investigate the neuropsychological mechanism of formation of false memory in the elderly.Methods Sixty education-matched subjects were divided into young group (aged below 44 years), middle-aged group (aged between 45 and 59 years), and elderly group (aged above 60 years), with 20 subjects in each group. The experimental paradigm of picture-induced and word-induced false memory (Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm) was used in the study.Results The picture-induced false memory rate was significantly higher in the elderly group than in the young and middle-aged groups (both P=0.000). The rate of word-induced false recall of critical lures was significantly higher in the middle-aged group than in the young and elderly groups (P=0.001, P=0.000). The rate of word-induced false recall of irrelevant items was significantly higher in the elderly group than in the middle-aged and young groups, and the above rate was significantly higher in the middle-age group than in the young group (P=0.032, P=0.000, and P=0.005, respectively). The false recall of irrelevant items was negatively correlated with correct recall of studied items (P=0.000).Conclusions The increased aging-associated false memory is associated with impaired memory encoding and extraction functions and possibly with memory monitoring disorder.