Age-Related Changes in Working Memory and Frontal Lobe Function: A Review

Abstract

The frontal lobes are considered to be an essential component of a circuit that supports working memory function. This chapter examines several aspects of the changes that occur in frontal lobe function and working memory during normal aging. We review data from cognitive, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging research that suggest the existence of diminished frontal lobe function in normal aging, leading to diminished performance in a wide variety of tasks involving working memory. These include age-related changes in the effects of memory load, in the processing of different types of stimuli, in the susceptibility to distractors, and in the ability to inhibit prepotent but unwanted responses. In addition, we discuss dissociations between performance in source memory tasks and recognition memory tasks, as well as methodological and theoretical issues pertaining to this research.