Study finds weaker relationship between what they see and their brain activity

Forgetfulness and age-related memory lapses are a common complaint for many older adults, but what is still not understood is what causes these changes.

Recent research published by scientists at the Baycrest 's Rotman Research Institute (RRI) provides a step closer to uncovering the answer, which could help with distinguishing signs of dementia earlier.

The study, published in the journal NeuropsychologiaThere is a lot of difference between their eyes and their brain activity.

"Eye movements are important for gathering information from the world and the memory of the brain – the hippocampus – is important for binding this data," says Dr. Jennifer Ryan, Senior Scientist RRI Reva James Leeds Chair in Neuroscience and Research Leadership. "But we found that older adults are not only a little bit older than they are.

Previously, Baycrest researchers had identified a connection between what we see and how we remember – when the eyes view and process is more in focus, there is more brain activity in the memory center of the brain. When the object is seen multiple times, there is a progressive drop in hippocampus activity, indicating that is not new. But this does not happen with older adults.

In the latest study, researchers found that older adults exhibited greater eye movements, but there is a corresponding pattern in brain activity.

"Dr. Ryan, who is also a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, says," These findings are more likely to be broken, "added Dr. Ryan. "When the memory is not being created, the object continues to remain unfamiliar to a person, even when they have seen it multiple times."

The study was conducted with 21 older adults (between the ages of 64 and 79) and 20 younger adults (between the ages of 19 and 28). Research participants were briefly shown on a screen where some of the images were displayed multiple times. Researchers badyzed the eye movements and brain scans of individuals as they looked at and badyzed the pictures.

As next steps, researchers will continue to explore the triggers of eye movements and related activities in the brain, which may be used to help predict cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease or other related dementias.

This study was conducted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canada Research Chairs Program.

With additional funding, scientists could continue to research the development of an eye-tracking cognitive badessment in cognitive decline clients.