[Source:  Science Daily]
Neuroscientists from Wayne State University and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) are taking a deeper look into how the brain mechanisms for memory retrieval differ between adults and children. While the memory systems are the same in many ways, the researchers have learned that crucial functions with relevance to learning and education differ.
The team’s findings were published on July 17, 2012, in the Journal of Neuroscience.
According to lead author Noa Ofen, Ph.D., assistant professor in WSU’s Institute of Gerontology and Department of Pediatrics, cognitive ability, including the ability to learn and remember new information, dramatically changes between childhood and adulthood. This ability parallels with dramatic changes that occur in the structure and function of the brain during these periods.
In the study, “The Development of Brain Systems Associated with Successful Memory Retrieval of Scenes,” Ofen and her collaborative team tested the development of neural underpinnings of memory from childhood to young adulthood. The team of researchers exposed participants to pictures of scenes and then showed them the same scenes mixed with new ones and asked them to judge whether each picture was presented earlier. Participants made retrieval judgments while researchers collected images of their brains with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
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