Premium
Developmental Differences in Relations Between Episodic Memory and Hippocampal Subregion Volume During Early Childhood
Author(s) -
Riggins Tracy,
Blankenship Sarah L.,
Mulligan Elizabeth,
Rice Katherine,
Redcay Elizabeth
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12445
Subject(s) - episodic memory , psychology , childhood memory , late childhood , hippocampus , hippocampal formation , early childhood , developmental psychology , neuroscience , long term memory , semantic memory , recall , cognitive psychology , cognition
Episodic memory shows striking improvement during early childhood. However, neural contributions to these behavioral changes are not well understood. This study examined associations between episodic memory and volume of subregions (head, body, and tail) of the hippocampus—a structure known to support episodic memory in school‐aged children and adults—during early childhood ( n = 45). Results revealed significant positive relations between episodic memory and volume of the hippocampal head in both the left and right hemispheres for 6‐ but not 4‐year‐old children, suggesting brain–behavior relations vary across development. These findings add new information regarding neural mechanisms of change in memory development during early childhood and suggest that developmental differences in hippocampal subregions may contribute to age‐related differences in episodic memory ability.