Synaesthesia is known to be linked to enhanced episodic memory abilities, across a variety of stimuli and tests, but the evidence has tended to come from younger adults. This enhanced cognitive ability in early adult life, together with the known brain‐related differences linked to synaesthesia (e.g., in both grey and white matter structure), makes it an ideal candidate for exploring the notion of ‘reserve’. That is, synaesthetes may be able to utilize additional cognitive and/or neural resources to mitigate against the effects of age‐related decline. This was explored in a 2 × 2 design contrasting age (young, old) against the presence/absence of synaesthesia in two different studies: recognition memory for digits, snowflakes, and music; and visual associative learning. Synaesthesia and age had independent, non‐interacting, effects on memory ability suggesting that, while synaesthetes show a memory advantage and maintain this advantage in later life, the presence of synaesthesia is not able to act as a reserve to protect against the effects of ageing. On our tasks, the benefit of having synaesthesia (enhancing memory) was of a similar magnitude to the effects of age (impairing memory); in other words, elderly synaesthetes present with ‘youthful’ memory abilities. It is important for future research on elderly cohorts to consider the presence of synaesthesia as an individual difference.

中文翻译：

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通感可以预防与年龄有关的记忆丧失吗？

联觉与各种刺激和测试中增强的情景记忆能力有关，但证据往往来自年轻成年人。成年早期这种增强的认知能力，以及与联觉有关的已知的大脑相关差异（例如，在灰质和白质结构上），使其成为探索“储备”概念的理想人选。也就是说，联觉者可能能够利用其他认知和/或神经资源来减轻与年龄有关的衰落的影响。在两项不同的研究中，以2×2的设计对比年龄（年轻，旧）与联觉的存在与否进行了探索：数字，雪花和音乐的识别记忆；和视觉联想学习。联觉和年龄具有独立，互不影响，对记忆能力的影响表明，虽然联觉麻醉剂显示出记忆优势并在以后的生活中保持这种优势，但联觉麻醉的存在并不能作为预防衰老影响的储备。在我们的任务中，通感（增强记忆力）的益处与年龄的影响（损害记忆力）具有相似的程度。换句话说，老年联觉者具有“年轻”的记忆能力。对于老年人群的未来研究而言，重要的是要考虑通感的存在作为个体差异。感觉联觉（增强记忆力）的益处与年龄的影响（记忆力减弱）具有相似的程度；换句话说，老年联觉者具有“年轻”的记忆能力。对于老年人群的未来研究而言，重要的是要考虑通感的存在作为个体差异。通感（增强记忆力）的益处与年龄的影响（损害记忆力）具有相似的程度；换句话说，老年联觉者具有“年轻”的记忆能力。对于老年人群的未来研究而言，重要的是要考虑通感的存在作为个体差异。