With aging, episodic memory decline starts to accelerate in older adults and they are also more
susceptible to false memory. In particular, they are more likely to mistake the new item for the learned
one than the young when the former is similar to the latter in sensory details or physical features, that
is, showing an age-related increase in perceptual false memory. Previous studies suggest that this may
be related to age-related changes in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). The
present article is endeavored to trace the theoretical interpretation of this phenomenon, and emphasizes
the continuity and difference between the Sensory Reactivation hypothesis and the Representational-
Hierarchical account, which tries to elucidate the process of eliminating perceptual interference for
older adults, so as to systematically understand the formation and aging mechanism of perceptual false
memory.