Memory-related changes may begin during middle age rather than only in later life, according to a study by researchers at Binghamton University in the United States.
The researchers studied around 60 people between the ages of 18 and 74 to examine how memory performance changes across adulthood and how those changes relate to activity in the brain’s hippocampus.
Participants were shown objects and scenes alongside different faces and later underwent memory tests. Researchers also used MRI scans to record activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in forming and consolidating new memories.
The findings suggest that memory-related brain changes can become noticeable during middle age, challenging the common assumption that memory decline is primarily a feature of old age.
Study co-author Iain McDonough said middle age represents an important period for memory that has often been overlooked in previous research.
The researchers’ findings highlight the importance of examining memory and brain function across a wider span of adulthood rather than focusing primarily on older people.