Figure 2. Spared gist representations shaping event remembering in the aging brain.

Presents a proposed schematic of how reliance on relatively spared gist representations for autobiographical events may shape remembering in the aging brain. Following developments in current neurocognitive models [1,26,28,43,44], relying on gist representations at retrieval should translate to spared, or enhanced use, of brain regions that have been strongly implicated in so-called conceptual, knowledge-based, or general (i.e., superordinate or basic-category) cognitive processes and content. The anterior hippocampus, the anterior temporal lobe, and dorsal and medial prefrontal cortex (shown in red) could be key regions meeting this criterion. In comparison, brain regions believed to support cognitive processes and content that contribute to specific representations of event elements, such as episodic detail retrieval, perceptual and location precision, and vividness, should be underused among older adults. Neural regions meeting this criterion may include the posterior hippocampus, the angular gyrus, precuneus, retrosplenial cortex, and parahippocampal cortex (shown in blue). In light of current neurocognitive models, in the text we discuss several considerations that could lead to a refinement of this basic schematic.