Schedule of Events | Symposia

Sketchpad Series

Role of event boundaries and prior knowledge in influencing learning and memory in healthy aging and preclinical Alzheimer's disease

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Dr Subbulakshmi S¹, Jennifer Park¹, Lucah Guerra¹, Hillary Vossler¹, Isha Sai¹, Dr Alexandra Trelle¹, Dr Tammy Tran¹, Dr Anamaria Lusardi¹, Dr Edward Wilson¹, Dr Elizabeth Mormino¹, Dr Anthony Wagner; ¹Stanford University

INTRODUCTION: Aging is marked by various structural and functional changes in the brain. These changes tend to have variable consequences for learning and memory. In this study, we propose to characterize cognitive and biological factors that modulate learning and memory in older adults. Young and older adults parse the continuous stream of information encountered in life into meaningful ‘events’ marked by event ‘boundaries’. These event boundaries often represent shifts in the spatial and temporal setting (or context). Given the theorized role of event segmentation in effective learning and remembering, can we use contextually structured event boundaries, embedded in learning materials, to foster new learning in older adults and/or mitigate the effects of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the acquisition and retention of new knowledge? We propose to investigate how age, brain connectivity, and AD pathology impact new learning and memory in older adults. Furthermore, to determine routes to fostering performance in older adults, we propose to test (a) whether relevant prior knowledge and (b) simple text-based induction of event boundaries in new learning material can mitigate age- and AD-related deficits, fostering better outcomes. PRELIMINARY RESULTS: On an initial sample of N=15, we find that the presence of event boundaries in the textual learning materials promotes new learning in CU older adults. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study will help inform how event segmentation is impacted in aging and disease, and how segmentation ability in turn impacts new learning and memory in older adults.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Development & aging