Age-related reversals in the neural support of emotional memory vividness: New evidence for preparatory prefrontal activity during memory search.
Abstract
Previous research identified age-related changes in the parametric modulation of neural activity by emotional memory vividness. Within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), older adults showed a stronger relationship between neural recruitment and positive memory vividness, whereas younger adults showed a stronger relationship for negative memories. More work is needed to corroborate these Age × Valence interactions while clarifying if they are uniquely sensitive to vividness ratings made after an instructed elaboration period or predictive of how vividness ratings might change from initial recognition to postelaboration. The present study assessed a new sample of participants (n = 60, ages 18-87) who completed a nearly identical paradigm as in previous work. Participants encoded emotional images paired with neutral titles and, during scanned retrieval, were presented with only the neutral titles in an old/new recognition task. Remembered titles were rated on the initial vividness of recollection for the paired image and a second rating of vividness after instructed elaboration. Results confirmed prefrontally mediated alterations to emotional memory phenomenology across the adult lifespan, evidenced by age-related increases in the relationship between PFC activity and positive memory vividness. During initial memory recognition, greater dorsomedial PFC activity among older adults predicted a subsequent increase in positive memory vividness after elaboration. Opposite patterns emerged in posterior sensorimotor and occipital regions that deactivated more strongly for vivid positive memories among older adults. These findings corroborate prior evidence of Age × Valence interactions in parametric modulation by vividness while also providing new evidence for a preparatory role of the PFC in shaping elaboration outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).