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Objective: It is unclear how the ability to initially acquire information in a first learning trial relates to learning rate in subsequent repeated trials. The separation of memory span and learning rate is an important psychological dilemma that remains unaddressed. Given the potential effects of aging on memory and learning, this study investigated behavior and spontaneous brain activity in adults in the context of memory span and learning rate.
Method: We enrolled a total of 758 participants, including 707 healthy older adults and 51 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. Sixty-five participants out of 707 completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning.
Results: Behaviorally, memory span and learning rate were not correlated with each other in the paired-associative learning test (PALT) but were negatively correlated in the auditory verbal learning test (AVLT). This indicated that the relationship between memory span and learning rate for item memory might be differentially affected by aging. Interaction analysis confirmed that these two capacities were differentially affected by test type (associative memory vs. item memory). Additionally, at the level of brain activity, distinct directions of correlation coefficients and brain regions for memory span and learning rate were detected using correlation analysis between behavioral performance and spontaneous brain activity. Regarding pathological aging, none of the correlations between memory span and learning rate were significant in either PALT or AVLT in MCI.
Conclusion: This study provides novel evidence for the dissociation of memory span and learning rate at behavioral and brain activity levels, which may have useful applications in detecting cognitive deficits or conducting cognitive interventions.
Keywords
memory span, learning rate, separation, aging, spontaneous brain activity
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This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Research
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 17 Sep, 2020
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Objective: It is unclear how the ability to initially acquire information in a first learning trial relates to learning rate in subsequent repeated trials. The separation of memory span and learning rate is an important psychological dilemma that remains unaddressed. Given the potential effects of aging on memory and learning, this study investigated behavior and spontaneous brain activity in adults in the context of memory span and learning rate.
Method: We enrolled a total of 758 participants, including 707 healthy older adults and 51 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. Sixty-five participants out of 707 completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning.
Results: Behaviorally, memory span and learning rate were not correlated with each other in the paired-associative learning test (PALT) but were negatively correlated in the auditory verbal learning test (AVLT). This indicated that the relationship between memory span and learning rate for item memory might be differentially affected by aging. Interaction analysis confirmed that these two capacities were differentially affected by test type (associative memory vs. item memory). Additionally, at the level of brain activity, distinct directions of correlation coefficients and brain regions for memory span and learning rate were detected using correlation analysis between behavioral performance and spontaneous brain activity. Regarding pathological aging, none of the correlations between memory span and learning rate were significant in either PALT or AVLT in MCI.
Conclusion: This study provides novel evidence for the dissociation of memory span and learning rate at behavioral and brain activity levels, which may have useful applications in detecting cognitive deficits or conducting cognitive interventions.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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