Cognotyping by What–Where–When Retrieval Reveals the Potential Role of Temporal Memory and Its Neural Correlates in Understanding Individual Differences across Aging and Alzheimer Disease

Despite distinct neural representation of what, where, and when information, studies of individual differences in episodic memory have neglected to test the three components separately. Here, we used a componential episodic memory task to measure cognitive profiles across a wide age range and in Alzheimer disease (AD) and to examine the role of theta oscillations in explaining performance. In Experiment 1, we tested a group of 47 young adults (age 21–30 years, 21 women) while recording their scalp EEG. A separate behavioral experiment (Experiment 2) was performed in 42 older adults (age 66–85 years, 29 women) and in a group of 16 AD patients (age 80–90 years, 12 women). In Experiment 1, K-means clustering based on behavioral data resulted in three “cognotypes” whose memory profiles showed corresponding differences in their EEG markers: What and where memory depended on frontal theta power and when memory depended on theta modulation by temporal distance between retrieved items. In Experiment 2, healthy older adults showed three cognotypes similar to those found in younger adults; moreover, AD patients had an overlapping profile with one specific cognotype, characterized by marked difficulties in when memory. These findings highlight the utility of componential episodic memory tests and cognotyping in understanding individual strengths and vulnerabilities in age-related neurocognitive decline.