Pattern separation, a hippocampal-dependent process that enables discrimination between highly similar memories, is known to decline with aging. This study investigated age-related differences in a pattern separation task performance and its relationship with neuropsychological measures. Fifty-nine cognitively healthy adults were divided into a younger group (18–55 years, n = 33) and an older group (>55 years, n = 26). Participants completed a the pattern separation task together with a neuropsychological battery including the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), the INECO Frontal Screening (IFS), the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, and the Digit Symbol-Coding (WAIS). Older adults showed significantly lower pattern separation performance, characterized by a reduced Pattern Separation Index, fewer correct rejections, and more false alarms. Pattern separation performance was significantly associated with executive functioning (IFS), delayed visual memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure), and a composite working memory index derived from visual and auditory IFS subtests. Ongoing analyses are evaluating the pattern separation task’s sensitivity and discriminative ability for differentiating age groups. These findings support the sensitivity of the Pattern Separation Task to age-related memory changes and provide evidence of its convergent validity with established neuropsychological measures of memory and executive functioning used daily in clinical field.
