Keywords
fMRI, hippocampus, memory, encoding, familiarity, recollection
Abstract
An influential idea about memory and medial temporal lobe function suggests that hippocampal activity predicts subsequent recognition success only when decisions are based on recollection, whereas perirhinal activity predicts subsequent recognition success when decisions are based on familiarity. An alternative idea is that hippocampal and perirhinal activity are both sensitive to the level of overall memory strength. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we have tested the relationship between brain activity during learning and subsequent memory strength. Activity in a number of cortical regions (including regions within what has been termed the default network) was negatively correlated with subsequent memory strength, suggesting that this activity reflects inattention or mind wandering (and, as a result, poor memory). In contrast, activity in both hippocampus and perirhinal cortex positively correlated with the subsequent memory strength of remembered items. This finding suggests that both structures cooperate during learning to determine the memory strength of what is being learned and that there is not a sharp distinction between these structures with respect to recollection and familiarity.
Original Publication Citation
Shrager, Y., Kirwan, C. B., & Squire, L. R. (2008). Activity in both hippocampus and perirhinal cortex predicts the memory strength of subsequently remembered information. Neuron, 59(4), 547-553.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Schrager, Y.; Kirwan, C. Brock; and Squire, L. R., "Activity in both hippocampus and perirhinal cortex predicts the memory strength of subsequently remembered information" (2008). Faculty Publications. 6535.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/6535
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2008-08-28
Publisher
Neuron
Language
English
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
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