Older Age and Generalization
June 15, 2026 updated by: Caitlin Bowman
Effects of Older Age on the Neural Basis of Memory Generalization
The goal of this clinical is to learn how the brain supports different kinds of memory decisions in healthy young and older adults. The main question it seeks to answer is: Do older adults make memory decisions by integrating across experiences?
Young (aged 18-30 years) and older (aged 65-80 years) participants will complete a memory task while undergoing functional MRI to measure their brain responses.
Researchers will compare brain measures of integration in older adults to those of young adults to see if integration increases in older age.
Study Overview
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Estimated)
360
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Contact
- Name: Caitlin Bowman, PhD
- Phone Number: 414-251-5010
- Email: bowman2@uwm.edu
Study Locations
-
-
Wisconsin
-
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53211
- Recruiting
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
-
Contact:
- Caitlin Bowman, PhD
- Phone Number: 414-251-5010
- Email: bowman2@uwm.edu
-
-
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
- Older Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Either aged 18-30 years (young adults) or aged 65-80 years (older adults) (self-report)
- Fluent in English (self-report)
- Right-handed (self-report)
- Cognitively healthy (self report verified by score > 24 on Montreal Cognitive Assessment)
- Self-reported normal or corrected-to-normal vision
Exclusion Criteria:
- Self-reported neurological disorder (e.g., Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease)
- Self-reported uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, or thyroid disorder
- Having conditions or devices that are unsafe for MRI (assessed via imaging center's MRI safety screening form)
- Self-reported difficulty lying still on one's back for 1-2 hours
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Basic Science
- Allocation: N/A
- Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
- Masking: None (Open Label)
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: Experimental Arm
This is a within-subject design with a single experimental arm
|
Subjects will be probed to either remember an association they saw directly during the study phase or to make an inference across indirectly associated items.
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Behavioral memory responses
Time Frame: Session 2 (experimental session)
|
Participants will complete the study and test phases of a memory-based inference task designed by the investigators.
The investigators will focus on the accuracy of decisions (0-100% scale with higher scores meaning better memory) and how long it takes to make correct decisions (in seconds, faster responses mean less cognitive processing needed).
|
Session 2 (experimental session)
|
|
Neural memory responses
Time Frame: Session 2 (experimental session)
|
Investigators will measure the neural underpinnings of direct memory and the ability to make inferences.
|
Session 2 (experimental session)
|
Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Collaborators
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
June 15, 2026
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2029
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2029
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
February 23, 2026
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
February 23, 2026
First Posted (Actual)
February 27, 2026
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
June 17, 2026
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
June 15, 2026
Last Verified
June 1, 2026
More Information
Terms related to this study
Other Study ID Numbers
- 23.108
- R01AG098263 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
YES
IPD Plan Description
Shared data will include structural and function MRI images, behavioral data from experimental tasks, behavioral data from the pre-experimental cognitive assessment, behavioral data from any post-experimental debriefing questionnaires, and participant demographic information.
IPD Sharing Time Frame
Data from each experiment will be made available upon acceptance of the first manuscript resulting from the project or at the end of the award period (whichever comes first for a given experiment).
Investigators expect the data to be available indefinitely.
IPD Sharing Access Criteria
The investigators will publicly share all de-identified data through OpenNeuro.
Access to the data will not be controlled.
IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type
- STUDY_PROTOCOL
- ANALYTIC_CODE
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.