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A Meta-Analysis of Age-related Differences in Hippocampal Size and Navigation and Memory Abilities

Poster Session A - Saturday, March 7, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Ashish Sahoo¹, Arne Ekstrom, Steven Weisberg; ¹University of Florida, ²University of Arizona, ³University of Texas at Arlington

As the global population ages, understanding the neural basis of cognitive differences in healthy adults has become crucial for promoting healthy aging. Prior studies show inconsistent relationships between hippocampal volume and cognitive performance, with age-related differences in hippocampal structural integrity proposed as a potential moderator of this relationship. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating associations between hippocampal volume and cognitive performance across adulthood. Following PRISMA guidelines, we screened 2,865 articles, identifying studies reporting quantitative associations between hippocampal volume and spatial navigation/episodic memory performance. Using random-effects meta-analysis with multilevel modeling to account for dependencies between effect sizes, we synthesized correlations across the adult lifespan. Preliminary meta-analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between hippocampal volume and cognitive performance (r = 0.25, 95% CI [0.18, 0.32], p < .001), representing a small-to-medium effect size. Heterogeneity was low (I² = 24%), suggesting relatively consistent findings. Publication bias tests showed minimal asymmetry, with trim-and-fill analysis yielding a similar adjusted estimate (r = 0.20). Age moderation analysis showed a non-significant trend toward stronger correlations in older samples. Importantly, many reviewed studies reported null findings without providing sufficient statistics for inclusion, suggesting potential overestimation of the true effect and highlighting a critical reporting gap in the literature. This study provides the first comprehensive quantitative summary of hippocampal-cognitive relationships across healthy adulthood, establishing a reference for distinguishing normal aging from pathological decline. Results support a modest but reliable association between hippocampal structure and memory/navigation performance, with implications for predictive models of cognitive aging.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Development & aging