Age-by-Emotion Interactions in Memory Retrieval Processes: An Event-Related Potential Study

Objectives Although research has identified age-by-emotion interactions in memory performance and in neural recruitment during retrieval, it remains unclear which retrieval processes are affected. The temporal resolution of event-related potentials (ERPs) provides a way to examine different component processes that operate during retrieval. Methods In the present study, younger and older adults encoded neutral and emotional images paired with neutral titles. ERPs were assessed during a recognition memory task in which participants viewed neutral titles and indicated whether each had been presented during encoding. Results An age-related posterior-to-anterior shift began in a time window typically associated with recollection-related processes (500–800 ms) while an age-by-emotion interaction occurred only during a later measurement window (800–1,200 ms). Discussion These findings suggest an effect of age on mechanisms supporting retrieval of episodic content, prior to post-retrieval processing. The potential relations to different types of detail retrieval are discussed. Further, the later age-by-emotion interactions suggest that age influences the effect of emotion on post-retrieval processes, specifically.