The impact of lifestyle factors and development on relational memory

Hassevoort, Kelsey Meredith

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101141 Copy

Description

Title

The impact of lifestyle factors and development on relational memory

Author(s)

Hassevoort, Kelsey Meredith

Issue Date

2018-04-09

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Cohen, Neal J.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Cohen, Neal J.

Committee Member(s)

• Federmeier, Kara D.
• Hillman, Charles H.
• Khan, Naiman A.

Department of Study

Neuroscience Program

Discipline

Neuroscience

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Hippocampus
• Relational Memory
• Aerobic Fitness
• Nutrition
• Obesity
• Development

Abstract

At a time when children in the U.S. and other developed nations are increasingly sedentary and often fail to meet dietary guidelines, the cognitive ramifications of these health choices continue to be elucidated. One brain structure impacted by fitness and nutrition is the hippocampus, and tasks that assess hippocampal function are ideally positioned for use in exercise and nutrition interventions, particularly early in life when these interventions may have the greatest benefit. While the hippocampus has historically been viewed as the heart of the episodic memory system and is known to support relational memory, a growing body of evidence has implicated the hippocampus in a wide range of cognitive domains, including mnemonic discrimination and creativity. The work presented in this dissertation investigates the development of hippocampaldependent cognition and the sensitivity of these varied aspects of hippocampal function to health factors, using a multidisciplinary approach that combines a broad array of physiological and cognitive metrics. Chapter one reviews the literature surrounding the hippocampal-dependent relational memory, its role in academic achievement, and the susceptibility of the hippocampus to the impact of physical activity, nutrition, and obesity and provides the framework within which the subsequent chapters operate. Chapter two investigates the relative contributions of aerobic fitness, body composition, and macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in predicting relational memory performance during childhood. Chapter three expands the investigation of hippocampal-dependent cognition beyond relational memory to include mnemonic discrimination and evaluates the associations between these distinct measures of hippocampal function and academic achievement. Chapter four continues to examine the relationship between the relational memory and mnemonic discrimination approaches to evaluating hippocampal function in adults and children, adding a developmental perspective to this body of work. Chapter five further extends the realm of hippocampal-dependent cognition to include creativity and investigates the relationship between diet and creativity performance during childhood. Taken together, this collection of experiments provides evidence that, like the structure of the hippocampus itself, the development of hippocampal-dependent cognition is not a uniform process, and the cognitive functions subserved by the hippocampus are differentially sensitive to the effects of aerobic fitness, nutrition, and obesity.

Graduation Semester

2018-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101141

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2018 Kelsey Hassevoort

Owning Collections