1
|
Chang M, Hong B, Savel K, Du J, Meade ME, Martin CB, Barense MD. Spatial context scaffolds long-term episodic richness of weaker real-world autobiographical memories in both older and younger adults. Memory 2024; 32:431-448. [PMID: 38557252 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2024.2334008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Remembering life experiences involves recalling not only what occurred (episodic details), but also where an event took place (spatial context), both of which decline with age. Although spatial context can cue episodic detail recollection, it is unknown whether initially recalling an event alongside greater reinstatement of spatial context protects memory for episodic details in the long term, and whether this is affected by age. Here, we analysed 1079 personally-experienced, real-world events from 29 older adults and 12 younger adults. Events were recalled first on average 6 weeks after they occurred and then again on average 24 weeks after they occurred. We developed a novel scoring protocol to quantify spatial contextual details and used the established Autobiographical Interview to quantify episodic details. We found improved recall of episodic details after a delay if those details had initially been recalled situated in greater spatial context. Notably, for both older and younger adults, this preservation was observed for memories initially recalled with low, but not high, numbers of episodic details, suggesting that spatial context aided episodic retrieval for memories that required more support. This work supports the notion that spatial context scaffolds detail-rich event recollection and inspires memory interventions that leverage this spatial scaffold.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miranda Chang
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Bryan Hong
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Katarina Savel
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jialin Du
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Melissa E Meade
- Department of Psychology, Huron University College, London, Canada
| | - Chris B Martin
- Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Morgan D Barense
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Moscovitch DA, Moscovitch M, Sheldon S. Neurocognitive Model of Schema-Congruent and -Incongruent Learning in Clinical Disorders: Application to Social Anxiety and Beyond. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:1412-1435. [PMID: 36795637 PMCID: PMC10623626 DOI: 10.1177/17456916221141351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Negative schemas lie at the core of many common and debilitating mental disorders. Thus, intervention scientists and clinicians have long recognized the importance of designing effective interventions that target schema change. Here, we suggest that the optimal development and administration of such interventions can benefit from a framework outlining how schema change occurs in the brain. Guided by basic neuroscientific findings, we provide a memory-based neurocognitive framework for conceptualizing how schemas emerge and change over time and how they can be modified during psychological treatment of clinical disorders. We highlight the critical roles of the hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and posterior neocortex in directing schema-congruent and -incongruent learning (SCIL) in the interactive neural network that comprises the autobiographical memory system. We then use this framework, which we call the SCIL model, to derive new insights about the optimal design features of clinical interventions that aim to strengthen or weaken schema-based knowledge through the core processes of episodic mental simulation and prediction error. Finally, we examine clinical applications of the SCIL model to schema-change interventions in psychotherapy and provide cognitive-behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder as an illustrative example.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David A. Moscovitch
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Mental Health Research & Treatment, University of Waterloo
| | - Morris Moscovitch
- Rotman Research Institute and Department of Psychology, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Buckley MG, Myles LA, Easton A, McGregor A. The spatial layout of doorways and environmental boundaries shape the content of event memories. Cognition 2022; 225:105091. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
4
|
Rodríguez Villar AJ. A Neuroscientific and Cognitive Literary Approach to the Treatment of Time in Calderón's Autos sacramentales. Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:780701. [PMID: 35418840 PMCID: PMC8996133 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.780701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Time processing is a fundamental subject in cognitive sciences and neuroscience. Current research is deepening how our brains process time, revealing its essential role in human functionality and survival. In his autos sacramentales, Early Modern Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca portrays the relationships between human inner workings and the Christian concept of time. These plays portray the experience of the present, the perception of the flow of time, the measure of time raging from seconds to eternity, and the mental travel necessary to inhabit the past and future with the help of memory and imagination. Calderón explores how the dramatic form can portray all these temporal phenomena and how that portrait of time can constrain the dramatic structure. The different parts of the brain in charge of executive decisions, projections, memories, computation, and calibration are the basis that leads these characters to make the choices that will take them to the future they have cast for themselves. This paper analyzes how the processes that Calderón ascribed to the soul of his characters in the 17th century relate to ongoing cognitive and neuroscientific findings.
Collapse
|
5
|
Strikwerda-Brown C, Williams K, Lévesque M, Brambati S, Sheldon S. What are your thoughts? Exploring age-related changes in episodic and semantic autobiographical content on an open-ended retrieval task. Memory 2021; 29:1375-1383. [PMID: 34637681 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1987476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Older adults display impairments in accessing episodic, but not semantic details, when specifically requested to construct autobiographical events. How aging affects access to autobiographical information under conditions of low retrieval constraint remains unclear. We examined the production of episodic and "non-episodic" details in young (n = 25) and older (n = 24) adults on a novel autobiographical narrative task free from constraints on the type of information to be retrieved (Thoughts task), compared with the standard autobiographical memory and picture description tasks. Older adults generated fewer episodic and more non-episodic details on the memory task than young adults, however there was no age difference in detail profiles on the Thoughts task. Under these conditions of low retrieval constraint, narratives of young and older adults consisted of mostly personal and general semantic content. Young adults also provided less episodic and more semantic details on the Thoughts than the memory task, while older adults provided similar amounts of details across tasks. These results reveal that both young and older adults retrieve semantic autobiographical content under minimally constrained retrieval conditions. Moreover, aging may impact upon the ability to shift the detail types (episodic, semantic) provided in response to changing demands of different autobiographical narrative tasks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cherie Strikwerda-Brown
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,School of Psychology, the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Kayla Williams
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | | | - Simona Brambati
- Department of Psychology, University de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Berg JJ, Gilmore AW, Shaffer RA, McDermott KB. The stability of visual perspective and vividness during mental time travel. Conscious Cogn 2021; 92:103116. [PMID: 34038829 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
When remembering or imagining, people can experience an event from their own eyes, or as an outside observer, with differing levels of vividness. The perspective from, and vividness with, which a person remembers or imagines has been related to numerous individual difference characteristics. These findings require that phenomenology during mental time travel be trait-like-that people consistently experience similar perspectives and levels of vividness. This assumption remains untested. Across two studies (combined N = 295), we examined the stability of visual perspective and vividness across multiple trials and timepoints. Perspective and vividness showed weak within-session stability when reported across just a few trials but showed strong within-session stability when sufficient trials were collected. Importantly, both visual perspective and vividness demonstrated good-to-excellent across-session stability across different delay intervals (two days to six weeks). Overall, our results suggest that people dependably experience similar visual phenomenology across occurrences of mental time travel.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey J Berg
- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States.
| | - Adrian W Gilmore
- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Ruth A Shaffer
- Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Kwok SC, Xu X, Duan W, Wang X, Tang Y, Allé MC, Berna F. Autobiographical and episodic memory deficits in schizophrenia: A narrative review and proposed agenda for research. Clin Psychol Rev 2021; 83:101956. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
|
8
|
Race E, Carlisle C, Tejwani R, Verfaellie M. The language of mental images: Characterizing hippocampal contributions to imageable word use during event construction. Neuropsychologia 2020; 151:107705. [PMID: 33301763 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that the hippocampus plays a critical role in the creative and flexible use of language at the sentence or discourse level. Yet it is currently unclear whether the hippocampus also supports language use at the level of single words. A recent study by Hilverman et al. (2017) found that amnesic patients with hippocampal damage use less imageable words when describing autobiographical episodes compared to healthy controls, but this deficit was attributed to patients' deficits in episodic memory rather than impairments in linguistic functions of the hippocampus per se. Yet, in addition to affecting word use by way of its role in memory, the hippocampus could also impact language use more directly. The current study aimed to test this hypothesis by investigating the status of imageable word use in amnesia during two different types of language production tasks. In Experiment 1, participants constructed narratives about events depicted in visually presented pictures (picture narratives). In Experiment 2, participants constructed verbal narratives about remembered events from the past or simulated events in the future (past/future narratives). Across all types of narratives, patients produced words that were rated as having similar levels of imageability compared to controls. Importantly, this was the case both in patients' picture narratives, which did not require generating details from episodic memory and were matched to those of controls with respect to narrative content, and in patients' narratives about past/future events, which required generating details from memory and which were reduced in narrative content compared to those of controls. These results distinguish between the quantity and quality of individual linguistic details produced in amnesia during narrative construction, and suggest that the use of imageable linguistic representations does not depend on intact episodic memory and can be supported by regions outside the hippocampus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Race
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02150, USA; Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02130, USA.
| | - Camille Carlisle
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02150, USA
| | - Ruchi Tejwani
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02150, USA
| | - Mieke Verfaellie
- Memory Disorders Research Center, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02130, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Common and distinct neural systems support the generation retrieval phase of autobiographical memory and personal problem solving. Behav Brain Res 2020; 397:112911. [PMID: 32950609 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Prior research has documented engagement of a common 'core' retrieval network during autobiographical memory retrieval and higher-order prospective tasks, such as personal problem solving. This neural overlap has overwhelmingly been documented in the context of the 'elaboration phase' of retrieval, when a single mental event is simulated in detail . However, recollective and prospective tasks are often associated with generic cues, which require the retrieval and consideration of multiple conceptually-related events. This initial 'generation phase' of retrieval has received comparably little attention in the literature, leaving open questions as to how and when autobiographical memory and prospective tasks overlap within the brain. Here, we compare and contrast neural activity between autobiographical memory retrieval and personal problem solving with a focus on the initial generation phase of retrieval. In the MRI scanner, young adults completed both an autobiographical memory and a personal problem solving task. Each task consisted of a generation phase, which required participants to generate multiple past personal events or problem solutions to a given cue and a subsequent elaboration phase, where a single memory or solution was simulated in detail. A multivariate Partial Least Squares analysis revealed patterns of neural overlap between memory and problem solving during the generation phase that were distinct from the elaboration phase. Among regions commonly recruited during the generation phase was the anterior hippocampus, a structure involved in initiating mental construction and integrating concepts. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that the anterior hippocampus interacted with distinct cortical regions as a function of task, in particular the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Together, these data provide novel evidence that neural overlap between autobiographical memory and personal problem solving does not occur solely in the context of detailed simulation but, instead, is driven by common retrieval demands.
Collapse
|
10
|
Episodic memory contributions to autobiographical memory and open-ended problem-solving specificity in younger and older adults. Mem Cognit 2020; 47:1592-1605. [PMID: 31215008 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-019-00953-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Research indicates that episodic memory processes are required to access specific autobiographical events and the details encompassed by a single event for several functions, including remembering and personal problem solving. Since healthy cognitive aging is associated with episodic memory decline, we hypothesized that older adults would be impaired at producing specific autobiographical events and details in service of these two functions. To test this hypothesis, younger and older adults completed two tasks (generation and elaboration) across two experiments (autobiographical memory and problem solving). The generation task required participants to produce multiple specific event memories or solutions to cues within a 90-s time period. The elaboration task required participants to select a single memory or solution to describe in detail. We quantified the number of specific and non-specific responses provided during the generation task and scored the descriptions from the elaboration task for the number of episodic (internal) and non-episodic (external) details. Across experiment, older adults produced fewer specific responses (generation task) and fewer internal details (elaboration task) than younger adults. In addition, older adults generated more non-specific responses and external details than younger adults for the memory but not the problem-solving experiment. A correlational analysis showed that the number of specific responses (generation) and internal details (elaboration) correlated for the memory but not for the problem-solving experiment. These results show that age-related episodic memory decline impairs access to specific autobiographical events and detail information when remembering and problem solving, but that additional cognitive factors impact how these age declines present when solving problems.
Collapse
|
11
|
Peters S, Sheldon S. Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning Are Associated with Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Specificity in Older Adults. GEROPSYCH 2020. [DOI: 10.1024/1662-9647/a000219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Abstract. We examined whether interindividual differences in cognitive functioning among older adults are related to episodic memory engagement during autobiographical memory retrieval. Older adults ( n = 49, 24 males; mean age = 69.93; mean education = 15.45) with different levels of cognitive functioning, estimated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), retrieved multiple memories (generation task) and the details of a single memory (elaboration task) to cues representing thematic or event-specific autobiographical knowledge. We found that the MoCA score positively predicted the proportion of specific memories for generation and episodic details for elaboration, but only to cues that represented event-specific information. The results demonstrate that individuals with healthy, but not unhealthy, cognitive status can leverage contextual support from retrieval cues to improve autobiographical specificity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Peters
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Acevedo-Molina MC, Matijevic S, Grilli MD. Beyond episodic remembering: elaborative retrieval of lifetime periods in young and older adults. Memory 2019; 28:83-93. [PMID: 31665972 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1686152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Relative to young adults, cognitively normal older adults commonly generate more semantic details and fewer episodic details in their descriptions of unique life events. It remains unclear whether this reflects a specific change to episodic memory or a broader alteration to autobiographical narration. To explore age differences across different types of autobiographical narration, we created a lifetime period narrative task that involves describing extended events. For comparison, participants also described unique life events. All autobiographical narratives were scored for episodic, semantic, and other detail generation. Relative to young adults, older adults generated more detailed narratives for remote and recent lifetime periods, which was driven by their increased retrieval of personal and general semantic details. Older adults also generated more semantic details for unique life event narratives, along with reduced episodic detail. More broadly, in both groups lifetime period narratives were largely based on semantic details, whereas episodic details were more prominent in the descriptions of unique life events. These findings indicate that the elevated generation of semantic details associated with normal cognitive aging is reflected in multiple types of autobiographical narration. We suggest that lifetime period narration is a spared aspect of autobiographical memory among older adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthew D Grilli
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.,Department of Neurology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.,McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Sheldon S, Gurguryan L, Madore KP, Schacter DL. Constructing autobiographical events within a spatial or temporal context: a comparison of two targeted episodic induction techniques. Memory 2019; 27:881-893. [PMID: 30849029 PMCID: PMC6716376 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2019.1586952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Recalling and imagining autobiographical experiences involves constructing event representations within spatiotemporal contexts. We tested whether generating autobiographical events within a primarily spatial (where the event occurred) or temporal (the sequence of actions that occurred) context affected how the associated mental representation was constructed. We leveraged the well-validated episodic specificity induction (ESI) technique, known to influence the use of episodic processes on subsequent tasks, to develop variants that selectively enhance spatial or temporal processing. We tested the effects of these inductions on the details used to describe past and future autobiographical events. We first replicated the standard ESI effect, showing that ESI enhances generating episodic details, particularly those that are perception-based, when describing autobiographical events (Experiment 1). We then directly compared the effects of the spatial and temporal inductions (Experiment 2 and 3). When describing autobiographical events, spatial induction enhanced generating episodic details, specifically perception-based details, compared to the control or temporal inductions. A greater proportion of the episodic details generated after the temporal induction were gist-based than after the spatial induction, but this proportion did not differ from a control induction. Thus, using a spatial or temporal framework for autobiographical event generation alters the associated details that are accessed.
Collapse
|
14
|
Robin J, Olsen RK. Scenes facilitate associative memory and integration. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 26:252-261. [PMID: 31209120 PMCID: PMC6581001 DOI: 10.1101/lm.049486.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
How do we form mental links between related items? Forming associations between representations is a key feature of episodic memory and provides the foundation for learning and guiding behavior. Theories suggest that spatial context plays a supportive role in episodic memory, providing a scaffold on which to form associations, but this has mostly been tested in the context of autobiographical memory. We examined the memory boosting effect of spatial stimuli in memory using an associative inference paradigm combined with eye-tracking. Across two experiments, we found that memory was better for associations that included scenes, even indirectly, compared to objects and faces. Eye-tracking measures indicated that these effects may be partly mediated by greater fixations to scenes compared to objects, but did not explain the differences between scenes and faces. These results suggest that scenes facilitate associative memory and integration across memories, demonstrating evidence in support of theories of scenes as a spatial scaffold for episodic memory. A shared spatial context may promote learning and could potentially be leveraged to improve learning and memory in educational settings or for memory-impaired populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Robin
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Rosanna K Olsen
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Sheldon S, Cool K, El-Asmar N. The processes involved in mentally constructing event- and scene-based autobiographical representations. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2019.1614004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Kelly Cool
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nadim El-Asmar
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Clark IA, Hotchin V, Monk A, Pizzamiglio G, Liefgreen A, Maguire EA. Identifying the cognitive processes underpinning hippocampal-dependent tasks. J Exp Psychol Gen 2019; 148:1861-1881. [PMID: 30829521 PMCID: PMC6818684 DOI: 10.1037/xge0000582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Autobiographical memory, future thinking, and spatial navigation are critical cognitive functions that are thought to be related and are known to depend upon a brain structure called the hippocampus. Surprisingly, direct evidence for their interrelatedness is lacking, as is an understanding of why they might be related. There is debate about whether they are linked by an underlying memory-related process or, as has more recently been suggested, because they each require the endogenous construction of scene imagery. Here, using a large sample of participants and multiple cognitive tests with a wide spread of individual differences in performance, we found that these functions are indeed related. Mediation analyses further showed that scene construction, and not memory, mediated (explained) the relationships between the functions. These findings offer a fresh perspective on autobiographical memory, future thinking, navigation, and also on the hippocampus, where scene imagery appears to play an influential role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Anna Monk
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Sheldon S, Fenerci C, Gurguryan L. A Neurocognitive Perspective on the Forms and Functions of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval. Front Syst Neurosci 2019; 13:4. [PMID: 30760984 PMCID: PMC6361758 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2019.00004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Autobiographical memory retrieval involves constructing mental representations of personal past episodes by associating together an array of details related to the retrieved event. This construction process occurs flexibly so that the event details can be associated together in different ways during retrieval. Here, we propose that differences in how this association occurs support a division in autobiographical remembering. We first review theories of autobiographical memory organization that suggest that episodic details of an experience are processed along a gradient of abstraction. This organization allows for the same autobiographical event to be recalled as either a conceptualized or perceptually-based episodic memory. We then use neuroimaging evidence to show how this division within episodic autobiographical memory is also present in the brain, both at a network level and within the hippocampus. Specifically, we suggest that the anterior and posterior hippocampus are obligatorily tuned towards constructing conceptual vs. perceptual episodic representations of autobiographical memories. Finally, we discuss the directive purpose of this proposed division of episodic remembering by reviewing decision scenarios that benefit from recalling the past as a conceptual vs. a perceptual episode. Conceptual remembering is useful to guide ambiguous decisions that have yet to be encountered whereas perceptual remembering is useful to guide decisions for well-structured tasks that have been previously experienced. We emphasize that the ability to shift between conceptual and perceptual forms of remembering, by virtue of hippocampal specialization, during decision-making and other memory-guided actions is the key to adaptive behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Can Fenerci
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lauri Gurguryan
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Strikwerda‐Brown C, Mothakunnel A, Hodges JR, Piguet O, Irish M. External details revisited – A new taxonomy for coding ‘non‐episodic’ content during autobiographical memory retrieval. J Neuropsychol 2018; 13:371-397. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Revised: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cherie Strikwerda‐Brown
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Annu Mothakunnel
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - John R. Hodges
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Sydney Medical School The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Olivier Piguet
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| | - Muireann Irish
- Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- School of Psychology The University of Sydney Camperdown New South Wales Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Camperdown New South Wales Australia
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
The Primacy of Spatial Context in the Neural Representation of Events. J Neurosci 2018; 38:2755-2765. [PMID: 29440386 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1638-17.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Some theories of episodic memory hypothesize that spatial context plays a fundamental role in episodic memory, acting as a scaffold on which episodes are constructed. A prediction based on this hypothesis is that spatial context should play a primary role in the neural representation of an event. To test this hypothesis in humans, male and female participants imagined events, composed of familiar locations, people, and objects, during an fMRI scan. We used multivoxel pattern analysis to determine the neural areas in which events could be discriminated based on each feature. We found that events could be discriminated according to their location in areas throughout the autobiographical memory network, including the parahippocampal cortex and posterior hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and medial prefrontal cortex. Events were also discriminable based on person and object features, but in fewer regions. Comparing classifier performance in regions involved in memory for scenes and events demonstrated that the location of an event was more accurately classified than the person or object involved. These results support theories that suggest that spatial context is a prominent defining feature of episodic memory.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Remembered and imagined events are complex, consisting of many elements, including people, objects, and locations. In this study, we sought to determine how these types of elements differentially contribute to how the brain represents an event. Participants imagined events consisting of familiar locations, people, and objects (e.g., kitchen, mom, umbrella) while their brain activity was recorded with fMRI. We found that the neural patterns of activity in brain regions associated with spatial and episodic memory could distinguish events based on their location, and to some extent, based on the people and objects involved. These results suggest that the spatial context of an event plays an important role in how an event is represented in the brain.
Collapse
|
20
|
Sheldon S, El-Asmar N. The cognitive tools that support mentally constructing event and scene representations. Memory 2017; 26:858-868. [DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1417440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Signy Sheldon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Nadim El-Asmar
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| |
Collapse
|