Assessment of Conjunctive Binding in Aging: A Promising Approach for Alzheimer’s Disease Detection

Abstract

The visual experience of objects lies in the ability to perceive and integrate their constitutive features. Conjunctive binding (CB) is the cognitive function that integrates the features of objects as wholes. This review covers the main findings (over the last 10 years) concerning the role of CB in visual working memory (VWM) and cognitive theory, its neural correlates, as well as perspectives for future work. First, we discuss the theoretical cognitive models of CB and how these relate to other cognitive functions. We then integrate neuroimaging evidence with cognitive theory to identify the neural functional network of CB for encoding and maintenance. Also, we describe the field?s transition from experimental to clinical research, which paves the way for work in the area of VWM binding and aging. Finally, we expose the challenges faced by this field of research and analyze its role in the study of dementia and the construction of neuro-cognitive models of conjunctive binding.