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Poster B21 in Poster Session B - Thursday, August 8, 2024, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, Johnson Ice Rink

Age-related differences in visual statistical learning during face and scene working memory

Hwamee Oh1 (), Xiaoyang Hu1; 1Brown University

Visual information processing is not a simple reflection of the physical stimuli surrounding us, but rather emerges in interaction with our prior knowledge. One form of such interaction is visual statistical learning. Yet, the neural implementation and behavioral implications of visual statistical learning outside of long-term memory, remains largely unknown. Using face and scene-based working memory (WM) paradigms, we examined behavioral and neural correlates of visual statistical learning in WM and their age-related differences. We found that individuals of all ages exhibited faster response times and higher accuracy in face WM tasks compared to scene tasks. For visual images that were expected to form stronger associations between them, the young, but not older, adults showed significantly slower and less accurate responses. Strongly associated visual images were supported by increased frontoparietal activations in both age groups, suggesting a greater frontoparietal control demand on strongly associated visual information that may hamper WM performance.

Keywords: Visual memory Statistical learning Face scene processing Aging 

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