Cognitive ageing of the Medial Temporal Lobe across cultures: A digital neuropsychological approach

D'Souza, Aminette 2023. Cognitive ageing of the Medial Temporal Lobe across cultures: A digital neuropsychological approach. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

In the context of a rapidly ageing global population, understanding the influence of age on cognitive functioning becomes imperative. The Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL) is widely acknowledged to be important for memory. This thesis applies a novel digital neuropsychological tool - Memory in Neurological Disorders (MiND) tablet-based application - which is informed by recent advancements in our understanding of MTL function (Graham et al., 2010) to investigate age-related changes in MTL-dependent cognition and assess if these effects generalise across cultures (UK and India). Episodic memory - which is thought to be supported by the hippocampal operation of pattern separation - is known to be particularly vulnerable to age-related cognitive decline. In Chapter 2, I use a novel translational task on MiND to assess spatial pattern separation. I find that this hippocampal-dependent operation is not sensitive to age-related decline in middle-to-older aged adults. My results suggest that education may act as a protective factor, while culture-specific factors may contribute to risk. Beyond memory, the hippocampus is specialised for scene representations which support various cognitive functions. In Chapter 3, on MiND, I test the boundary extension phenomenon which depends upon scene construction ability. Results show that boundary extension is universal but constrained by age and stimulus characteristics. Finally, in Chapter 4, I examine the broader specialisations of MTL sub-regions for higher-order perception across representational categories. I use the MiND Oddity perceptual discrimination task to study age effects across stimulus categories. I find that age impairs MTL-dependent higher-order conjunctive processing. Importantly, object perception is more vulnerable to age-related cognitive decline than scenes across cultures. Taken together, this thesis contributes towards a deeper theoretical understanding of cognitive ageing of the MTL and offers valuable insights for the early detection of cognitive decline, cognitive assessment of culturally diverse populations, and advancement of digital assessments in global health research.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 May 2024
Last Modified:	09 May 2024 10:44
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/168730

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