Cognitive support at encoding attenuates age differences in recollective experience among adults of lower frontal lobe function

Free recall and recollective experience were investigated in relation to low and high cognitive support at encoding and to neuropsychological measures of frontal lobe function (FLF) in 105 healthy adults divided into 3 age groups (young, young-old, old). Statistically significant main effects suggested free recall was inferior with increasing age and lower FLF. For recollective experience however, a significant interaction between age and FLF was modified by the provision of cognitive support at encoding. Recognition measures classified as familiar did not vary according to age, neuropsychological function, or encoding condition. The results suggest that the neural systems of the prefrontal cortex underlie age differences in recollective experience and that cognitive support modifies the influence of those systems in old age.