Prefrontal Cortex Contributions to the Development of Memory Formation

Abstract

The development of the brain, particularly the protracted maturation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), supports the development of episodic memory. Yet how different regions of the PFC functionally mature to support age-related increases in memory performance remains unclear. We investigated the PFC contribution to subsequent memory (SM) of encoded visual scenes in children, adolescents, and young adults (n = 83). We identified distinct patterns of PFC activations supporting SM: regions in the lateral PFC showed positive SM effects, whereas regions in the superior and medial PFC showed negative SM effects. Both positive and negative SM effects increased with age. The magnitude of negative SM effects in the superior PFC partially mediated the age-related increase in memory. Functional connectivity between lateral PFC and regions in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) increased with age during successful memory formation. In contrast, functional connectivity between the superior PFC and regions in the MTL decreased with age, suggesting an age-related increase in the anti-correlation between these regions. These findings highlight the differential involvement of regions within the PFC supporting memory formation.

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