Measuring Memory Reactivation With Functional MRI: Implications for Psychological Theory - PubMed (original) (raw)
Measuring Memory Reactivation With Functional MRI: Implications for Psychological Theory
Benjamin J Levy et al. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2013 Jan.
Abstract
Environmental cues often remind us of earlier experiences by triggering the reactivation of memories of events past. Recent evidence suggests that memory reactivation can be observed using functional MRI and that distributed pattern analyses can even provide evidence of reactivation on individual trials. The ability to measure memory reactivation offers unique and powerful leverage on theoretical issues of long-standing interest in cognitive psychology, providing a means to address questions that have proven difficult to answer with behavioral data alone. In this article, we consider three instances. First, reactivation measures can indicate whether memory-based inferences (i.e., generalization) arise through the encoding of integrated cross-event representations or through the flexible expression of separable event memories. Second, online measures of memory reactivation may inform theories of forgetting by providing information about when competing memories are reactivated during competitive retrieval situations. Finally, neural reactivation may provide a window onto the role of replay in memory consolidation. The ability to track memory reactivation, including at the individual trial level, provides unique leverage that is not afforded by behavioral measures and thus promises to shed light on such varied topics as generalization, integration, forgetting, and consolidation.
Keywords: declarative memory; episodic memory; fMRI; relational memory.
© The Author(s) 2013.
Figures
Figure 1
Evidence for integrative encoding from Shohamy and Wagner (2008). (A) Behavioral paradigm for the acquired equivalence task. Participants learned face-scene associations through trial-and-error feedback (upper left). Critically, during the learning phase some cues shared a common associate (lower left). During a subsequent test (upper right), participants were tested on the trained pairs and on generalization trials. Generalization trials could be correctly responded to by way of two different mechanisms (lower right): during test, participants may retrieve multiple distinct trained associations and draw inferences from them about what response should be made; alternatively, during learning, prior associations may be reactivated and then integrated into a single cross-event representation that is then available to be retrieved when the generalization trials are encountered at test. (B) Neuroimaging evidence for integrative encoding. Activity in the right and left hippocampus (top) increased across the learning phase. Across participants, the degree to which activation increased from early to late learning was predictive of performance (% correct) on the generalization trials (middle). A median split of the participants revealed that the “good” generalizers showed increased activity from the early to late learning phase, whereas “poor” generalizers did not (bottom).
Similar articles
- Fidelity of neural reactivation reveals competition between memories.
Kuhl BA, Rissman J, Chun MM, Wagner AD. Kuhl BA, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Apr 5;108(14):5903-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1016939108. Epub 2011 Mar 21. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011. PMID: 21436044 Free PMC article. - Awake Reactivation of Prior Experiences Consolidates Memories and Biases Cognition.
Tambini A, Davachi L. Tambini A, et al. Trends Cogn Sci. 2019 Oct;23(10):876-890. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.07.008. Epub 2019 Aug 22. Trends Cogn Sci. 2019. PMID: 31445780 Free PMC article. Review. - Modulatory effects of stress on reactivated emotional memories.
Marin MF, Pilgrim K, Lupien SJ. Marin MF, et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Oct;35(9):1388-96. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.04.002. Epub 2010 May 14. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010. PMID: 20471179 Clinical Trial. - The role of stress during memory reactivation on intrusive memories.
Cheung J, Garber B, Bryant RA. Cheung J, et al. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2015 Sep;123:28-34. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2015.04.004. Epub 2015 Apr 21. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2015. PMID: 25911248 - Human learning and memory.
Johnson MK, Hasher L. Johnson MK, et al. Annu Rev Psychol. 1987;38:631-68. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ps.38.020187.003215. Annu Rev Psychol. 1987. PMID: 3548580 Review.
Cited by
- Enhancing learning and retention with distinctive virtual reality environments and mental context reinstatement.
Essoe JK, Reggente N, Ohno AA, Baek YH, Dell'Italia J, Rissman J. Essoe JK, et al. NPJ Sci Learn. 2022 Dec 8;7(1):31. doi: 10.1038/s41539-022-00147-6. NPJ Sci Learn. 2022. PMID: 36481776 Free PMC article. - Cortical Representations of Visual Stimuli Shift Locations with Changes in Memory States.
Long NM, Kuhl BA. Long NM, et al. Curr Biol. 2021 Mar 8;31(5):1119-1126.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.004. Epub 2021 Feb 11. Curr Biol. 2021. PMID: 33577747 Free PMC article. - Memory engrams: Recalling the past and imagining the future.
Josselyn SA, Tonegawa S. Josselyn SA, et al. Science. 2020 Jan 3;367(6473):eaaw4325. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw4325. Science. 2020. PMID: 31896692 Free PMC article. Review. - Memory Allocation: Mechanisms and Function.
Josselyn SA, Frankland PW. Josselyn SA, et al. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2018 Jul 8;41:389-413. doi: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061956. Epub 2018 Apr 25. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2018. PMID: 29709212 Free PMC article. Review. - Awake, Offline Processing during Associative Learning.
Bursley JK, Nestor A, Tarr MJ, Creswell JD. Bursley JK, et al. PLoS One. 2016 Apr 27;11(4):e0127522. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127522. eCollection 2016. PLoS One. 2016. PMID: 27119345 Free PMC article.
References
- Anderson JR. The architecture of cognition. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA: 1983.
- Anderson MC. Rethinking interference theory: Executive control and the mechanisms of forgetting. Journal of Memory and Language. 2003;49:415–445.
- Anderson MC, Levy BJ. On the relationship between interference and inhibition in cognition. In: Benjamin A, editor. Successful Remembering and Successful Forgetting: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert A. Bjork. Psychology Press; New York, NY: 2011. pp. 107–132.
- Anderson MC, McCulloch KC. Integration as a general boundary condition on retrieval-induced forgetting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 1999;25:608–629.
- Bäuml K-H. Revisiting an old issue: Retroactive interference as a function of the degree of original and interpolated learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 1996;3:380–384. - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Miscellaneous