The Effects of External Cue Overlap and Internal Goals on Selective Memory Retrieval as Revealed by Electroencephalographic (EEG) Neural Pattern Reinstatement
Arianna Moccia, Matthew Plummer, Ivor Simpson, Alexa M. Morcom
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
For past experiences to guide our actions, we need to retrieve the relevant memories. Here, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate how memories are selected for retrieval and to test how current goals and external retrieval cues drive selection during the retrieval cascade. We analysed data from two studies in which people studied objects in picture or auditory word formats and later recalled them using either written words (Experiment 1, n = 28) or line drawings (Experiment 2, n = 28) as retrieval cues. We used multivariate decoding to quantify the reinstatement of study phase neural patterns when people successfully identified items that had been studied in a format currently designated as targeted, compared with non-targeted items. Neural reinstatement emerged at around 500 ms post-stimulus, like the established left parietal event-related potential (ERP) signature of recollection. Reinstatement was target-selective (greater for targets than non-targets) when test cues overlapped more with targets, a pattern previously shown for the left parietal ERP. In contrast, when cues overlapped more with non-targets, neural reinstatement was reversed—greater for non-targets—unlike the left parietal ERP. We also tested for goal-directed mental reinstatement proposed to guide selection prior to retrieval cues. When words were cues, there was strong evidence of this proactive reinstatement, but it was not detected when pictures were cues. Together, the data suggest that selection can act at multiple stages of memory retrieval and depends on both external cues and goal-directed control.
期刊介绍:
EJN is the journal of FENS and supports the international neuroscientific community by publishing original high quality research articles and reviews in all fields of neuroscience. In addition, to engage with issues that are of interest to the science community, we also publish Editorials, Meetings Reports and Neuro-Opinions on topics that are of current interest in the fields of neuroscience research and training in science. We have recently established a series of ‘Profiles of Women in Neuroscience’. Our goal is to provide a vehicle for publications that further the understanding of the structure and function of the nervous system in both health and disease and to provide a vehicle to engage the neuroscience community. As the official journal of FENS, profits from the journal are re-invested in the neuroscientific community through the activities of FENS.