Cortical thickness in perirhinal area BA35 predicts adaptive episodic memory-guided decision making in older adults.
Objectives To make adaptive decisions, it is often necessary to retrieve episodic memories, for example, about whether an item was previously associated with reward. Compared to young adults, older adults are impaired at making adaptive episodic memory-based choices. There are substantial individual...
| Published in: | Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences Vol. 81; no. 8; pp. 1 - 8 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Aug2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195931905&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195931905 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10795014 JGB jtl: Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences issn: 10795014 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 81 iid: 8 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195931905 10.1093/geronb/gbag044 ppf: 1 ppct: 7 formats: tig: atl: Cortical thickness in perirhinal area BA35 predicts adaptive episodic memory-guided decision making in older adults. aug: au: Lempert, Karolina M Cohen, Michael S MacNear, Kameron A Reckers, Frances M Zaneski, Laura Xie, Long Das, Sandhitsu R Yushkevich, Paul A Wolk, David A Kable, Joseph W affil: Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United States Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States su: United States Cross-sectional method Task performance Episodic memory Old age Cerebral cortex anatomy Research funding Diagnostic imaging Brain Magnetic resonance imaging Descriptive statistics Temporal lobe Decision making in old age Cognition disorders Brain cortical thickness Hippocampus (Brain) sug: subj: Cross-sectional method Task performance Episodic memory Old age United States Diagnostic Imaging Centers Other Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Cerebral cortex anatomy Research funding Diagnostic imaging Brain Magnetic resonance imaging Descriptive statistics Temporal lobe Decision making in old age Cognition disorders Brain cortical thickness Hippocampus (Brain) keyword: aged atrophy brodmann area Brodmann Area BA35 copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 decision making entorhinal cortex episodic memory hippocampus https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag044 inLanguage:en Learning magnetic resonance imaging memory perirhinal cortex publisher:Oxford University Press reward sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42330332/ Structural MRI young adult aged atrophy brodmann area Brodmann Area BA35 copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 decision making entorhinal cortex episodic memory hippocampus https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag044 inLanguage:en Learning magnetic resonance imaging memory perirhinal cortex publisher:Oxford University Press reward sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42330332/ Structural MRI young adult ab: Objectives To make adaptive decisions, it is often necessary to retrieve episodic memories, for example, about whether an item was previously associated with reward. Compared to young adults, older adults are impaired at making adaptive episodic memory-based choices. There are substantial individual differences across older adults, however. In this study, we examined whether hippocampal volume or extrahippocampal cortical thickness in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is associated with better episodic memory-based decision making in cognitively unimpaired older adults. Methods Older adults (n = 87; aged 61–88) completed a decision making task and a T1-weighted anatomical MRI scan. In the task, they studied images of houses paired with arbitrary reward values ($5 or $0). Later, they made incentivized approach/avoid decisions about these items. Finally, their memory for the items and their values was assessed. MTL structural data were segmented with the ASHS-T1 pipeline to obtain volume measures for anterior and posterior hippocampus, and cortical thickness measures in entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex, and perirhinal cortex Brodmann areas (BAs) 35 and 36. Results BA35 cortical thickness was associated with better performance in the decision making task. This effect persisted after adjusting for memory performance, suggesting that BA35 thickness is specifically linked to the retrieval and use of episodic memories at the time of choice. Discussion Although this study is cross-sectional, it suggests that atrophy in BA35 may contribute to subtle changes in the ability to use memory to make reward-maximizing choices, even in individuals who do not yet show evident cognitive impairment. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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