Older Age and Generalization

NCT07440017 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 23.108R01AG098263
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 360
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical is to learn how the brain supports different kinds of memory decisions in healthy young and older adults. The main question it seeks to answer is: Do older adults make memory decisions by integrating across experiences? Young (aged 18-30 years) and older (aged 65-80 years) participants will complete a memory task while undergoing functional MRI to measure their brain responses. Researchers will compare brain measures of integration in older adults to those of young adults to see if integration increases in older age.

Conditions

Aging

Keywords

cognitive aging; episodic memory; fMRI; generalization; hippocampus; prefrontal cortex

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Behavioral memory responses

  Participants will complete the study and test phases of a memory-based inference task designed by the investigators. The investigators will focus on the accuracy of decisions (0-100% scale with higher scores meaning better memory) and how long it takes to make correct decisions (in seconds, faster responses mean less cognitive processing needed).

  Session 2 (experimental session)

• Neural memory responses

  Investigators will measure the neural underpinnings of direct memory and the ability to make inferences.

  Session 2 (experimental session)

Study Arms (1)

Experimental Arm

EXPERIMENTAL

This is a within-subject design with a single experimental arm

Behavioral: Memory decision type

Interventions

Memory decision type BEHAVIORAL

Subjects will be probed to either remember an association they saw directly during the study phase or to make an inference across indirectly associated items.

Experimental Arm

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Either aged 18-30 years (young adults) or aged 65-80 years (older adults) (self-report)
• Fluent in English (self-report)
• Right-handed (self-report)
• Cognitively healthy (self report verified by score \> 24 on Montreal Cognitive Assessment)
• Self-reported normal or corrected-to-normal vision

You may not qualify if:

• Self-reported neurological disorder (e.g., Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease)
• Self-reported uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, or thyroid disorder
• Having conditions or devices that are unsafe for MRI (assessed via imaging center's MRI safety screening form)
• Self-reported difficulty lying still on one's back for 1-2 hours

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Caitlin Bowman: lead
• National Institute on Aging (NIA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States

Location

Central Study Contacts

Caitlin Bowman, PhD

CONTACT

414-251-5010; bowman2@uwm.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 23, 2026
• First Posted: February 27, 2026
• Study Start (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2029
• Last Updated: March 23, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data from each experiment will be made available upon acceptance of the first manuscript resulting from the project or at the end of the award period (whichever comes first for a given experiment). Investigators expect the data to be available indefinitely.
• Access Criteria: The investigators will publicly share all de-identified data through OpenNeuro. Access to the data will not be controlled.

Locations

US (1)