Scene- and object-selective regions exhibit convergent patterns of functional connectivity during encoding and retrieval which, for scenes, vary with age.
Key Findings
Results
Scene-selective regions exhibited greater connectivity with posterior occipital and occipitotemporal regions during scene relative to object encoding.
Three scene-selective seed regions were used: the parahippocampal place area (PPA), medial place area (MPA), and occipital place area (OPA).
Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses were employed to assess category-selective functional connectivity during encoding of word-image associations.
The connectivity pattern was specific to scene encoding relative to object encoding conditions.
Connectivity was primarily observed with posterior occipital and occipitotemporal cortical regions.
Results
The lateral occipital complex (LOC) exhibited less extensive connectivity with posterior regions during object encoding compared to scene-selective regions during scene encoding.
LOC served as the object-selective seed region in the PPI analyses.
During encoding, LOC showed connectivity with similar posterior regions as scene-selective areas, but the extent was less broad.
This suggests an asymmetry in the degree of category-selective connectivity between scene and object networks during encoding.
Results
During retrieval, both scene- and object-selective regions demonstrated increased connectivity with left lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices when retrieving their preferred category.
The retrieval phase involved recall of word-image associations.
Both scene-selective (PPA, MPA, OPA) and object-selective (LOC) regions showed this convergent prefrontal-parietal connectivity pattern.
Connectivity was specifically with left lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices during retrieval of the preferred stimulus category.
This convergent pattern suggests a common retrieval network engaged by both scene- and object-selective regions.
Results
Age differences in scene-selective functional connectivity were evident during both the encoding and retrieval phases.
The study included both younger and older adult participants.
Age-related differences were specific to scene-selective connectivity; object-selective (LOC) connectivity differences with age were not highlighted as significant.
Age differences were present at both the encoding and retrieval phases of the memory task.
The nature of the age differences involved altered connectivity patterns of the PPA, MPA, and/or OPA in older relative to younger adults.
Results
Associations between source memory performance and scene-selective connectivity were significant only in younger adults, not older adults.
Source memory performance was assessed for the word-image associations learned during encoding.
The relationship between scene-selective functional connectivity and memory performance was age-dependent.
Significant connectivity-performance correlations were found in younger adults but not in older adults.
This suggests that the functional role of scene-selective connectivity in supporting memory may be disrupted or altered in aging.
Methods
The study used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses with four category-selective seed regions to examine functional connectivity during episodic encoding and retrieval.
Seed regions included three scene-selective regions (PPA, MPA, OPA) and one object-selective region (LOC).
The task involved encoding and retrieval of word-image associations, with images depicting either scenes or objects.
PPI analyses allow identification of regions whose connectivity with a seed region varies as a function of a psychological context (here, stimulus category).
Both younger and older adult participants were tested to allow age-group comparisons.
What This Means
This research suggests that specific brain regions in the visual cortex that respond selectively to different categories of images — such as scenes (landscapes, rooms) versus objects — do not work in isolation during memory formation and recall. Instead, they coordinate with networks of other brain areas in category-specific ways. When people encode or retrieve scene-related memories, scene-selective brain regions increase their communication with posterior visual areas during encoding and with left frontal and parietal regions during retrieval. Object-selective regions show a similar but less extensive pattern, suggesting a broadly shared organizational principle for how visual category information is integrated into memory.
This research also suggests that aging affects these connectivity patterns, particularly for scene-related processing. Older adults showed different patterns of scene-selective brain connectivity compared to younger adults during both learning and remembering. Importantly, in younger adults, stronger scene-selective connectivity was associated with better memory performance, but this brain-behavior relationship was absent in older adults. This dissociation implies that older adults may be relying on these scene-processing networks less effectively, or using alternative strategies, when forming and retrieving visual memories.
These findings matter because they help clarify how the brain organizes visual memories by category and why memory for certain types of visual information — particularly scenes — may decline with age. Understanding which specific network interactions support successful memory, and how aging disrupts them, could inform future work on interventions aimed at preserving memory function in older populations.
Monier S, Srokova S, Shahanawaz N, Rugg M. (2026). Effects of age on memory-related category-selective connectivity.. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991). https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag124