Thesis Inès LEPROULT

During cognitive aging, a deficit in working memory occurs. This observation of an age-related alteration in working memory is now consensus. Nevertheless, the causes of this decline remain more controversial. Recently, several studies have shown that the temporal resource sharing model (TBRS) provides a promising framework for understanding the evolution of working memory during cognitive aging. In particular, the mechanisms of maintenance of information in working memory and their interactions seem to play an crucial role. Thus, through a behavioral and computational approaches, this thesis project will aim to:
i) study the dynamics of the elaboration mechanism and its impact on the maintenance of information in working memory.
ii) determine to what extent a deficit in the elaboration mechanism explains the alteration of working memory that we observe duringhealthy cognitive aging.
iii) consider how the TBRS model and the deficit in the use of elaborative strategies can account for the observations of pathological cognitive aging.