Episodic memory decline and healthy aging

One of the cognitive functions most affected by the aging process is our memory for personally experienced past events or episodic memory (EM). The advent of functional neuroimaging has greatly advanced our knowledge of the neural basis of EM and its decline with age. The current chapter reviews prominent hypotheses of EM decline in healthy aging and relates them to recent structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that implicate medial temporal and prefrontal regions in age-related memory decline. Intriguingly, recent findings indicate that aging is not exclusively associated with decline. In fact, some older adults seem to cope with brain decline by shifting to alternative brain resources that can compensate for their EM deficits