When faced with a difficult problem, people often rely on their past experiences. Healthy aging impairs both episodic memory and everyday problem solving. Dr. Nadia Brashier, a postdoctoral fellow in the Psychology Department at Harvard University, and her mentor, Dr. Daniel Schacter, will use the Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (PA-20-222) to investigate whether altered connectivity between large-scale brain networks underlies older adults? deficits. This supplement will enhance the training of Dr. Brashier, an early career scientist from a disadvantaged background. She will develop expertise in the cognitive neuroscience of aging, with a focus on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods in older adults.
Episodic memory declines with age, with negative consequences for everyday problem solving. This research is the first to identify what neural changes prevent older adults from drawing on past solutions to solve current problems. Dysregulation in connectivity between large-scale brain networks may constrain older adults, with implications for their ability to live independently.
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