Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease xx (20xx) x–xx DOI 10.3233/JAD-181154 IOS Press 1 Review Assessment of Conjunctive Binding in Aging: A Promising Approach for Alzheimer’s Disease Detection Juan F. Mart´ ınez a,1 , Catalina Trujillo a , Anal´ ıa Ar´ evalo b , Agust´ ın Ib´ a˜ nez c,d,e,f and Juan F. Cardona a,* a Instituto de Psicolog´ ıa, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia b Department of Neurology, University of S˜ ao Paulo Medical School, S˜ ao Paulo, Brazil c Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina d National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina e Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile f Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia Handling Associate Editor: John Ochoa Accepted 26 February 2019 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. Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, conjunctive binding, mild cognitive impairment, neuropsychological assessment, working memory INTRODUCTION To construct an experience of the world and the objects within it, the human brain binds features from different sensory modalities. Feature integra- 1 This work is part of Ph.D. dissertation [JF Mart´ ınez] ongoing at Universidad del Valle, Colombia. * Correspondenceto: Juan F. Cardona, Universidad del Valle, Ciudad Universitaria Mel´ endez, Calle 13 No. 100-00, Edificio 388 Oficina 4035, Cali, Colombia. Tel.: +1 57 2 321 21 00 /Ext. 2579; E-mail: felipe.cardona@correounivalle.edu.co. tion theory [1] aims to explain how binding occurs in perception. In visual working memory (VWM), conjunctive binding (CB) integrates and temporar- ily maintains features in unified object representation [2–4]. Della Sala et al. [5] define it as the cognitive function responsible for integrating the multiple fea- tures that compose complex stimuli or the different events that compose rich experiences. Binding research covers a wide range of modal- ities (i.e., verbal, motor, auditory, and visuospatial skills) that are dependent on short-term memory ISSN 1387-2877/19/$35.00 © 2019 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved Corrected Proof