Differential encoding mechanisms for subsequent associative recognition and free recall.

Full Abstract

Recent neuroimaging studies have successfully identified encoding mechanisms that support different forms of subsequent episodic recognition memory. In our everyday lives, however, much of our episodic memory retrieval is accomplished by means of free recall, i.e., retrieval without an external recognition cue. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the encoding mechanisms that support later free recall and their relationship to those that support different forms of later recognition memory. First, in agreement with previous work, we found that activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and hippocampus correlated with later associative/relational recognition. In these regions, activation was further enhanced for items later freely recalled, pointing to shared underlying relational encoding mechanisms whose magnitude of activation differentiates later successful free recall from successful associative recognition. Critically, we also found evidence for free recall-specific encoding mechanisms that did not, in our paradigm, support later associative recognition compared with item recognition. These free recall-specific effects were observed in left mid/dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) and bilateral posterior parietal cortices (PPC). We speculate that the higher-level working memory operations associated with DLPFC and attention to internal mnemonic representations perhaps mediated via PPC may serve to embed an item into a rich associative network during encoding that facilitates later access to the item. Finally, activation in the perirhinal cortex correlated with successful associative binding regardless of the form of later memory, i.e., recognition or free recall, providing novel evidence for the role of the perirhinal cortex in episodic intra-item encoding.

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Author information

Author/s: Staresina, Bernhard P (BP); Davachi, Lila (L);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Sep; vol 26 (issue 36) : pp 9162-72

Dates: Created 2006/09/07; Completed 2006/09/26; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16957073, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

ErratumIn: J Neurosci. 2006 Sep 20;26(38):9836.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Association Learning - physiology
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Discrimination (Psychology)
Female

Hippocampus - physiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mental Recall - physiology
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology

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