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Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2023The hippocampus is critical for recollecting and imagining experiences. This is believed to involve voluntarily drawing from hippocampal memory representations of...
The hippocampus is critical for recollecting and imagining experiences. This is believed to involve voluntarily drawing from hippocampal memory representations of people, events, and places, including maplike representations of familiar environments. However, whether representations in such "cognitive maps" can be volitionally accessed is unknown. We developed a brain-machine interface to test whether rats can do so by controlling their hippocampal activity in a flexible, goal-directed, and model-based manner. We found that rats can efficiently navigate or direct objects to arbitrary goal locations within a virtual reality arena solely by activating and sustaining appropriate hippocampal representations of remote places. This provides insight into the mechanisms underlying episodic memory recall, mental simulation and planning, and imagination and opens up possibilities for high-level neural prosthetics that use hippocampal representations.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Brain-Computer Interfaces; Hippocampus; Imagination; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Volition; Spatial Navigation; Brain Mapping
PubMed: 37917713
DOI: 10.1126/science.adh5206 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Nov 2023The ability to store information about the past to dynamically predict and prepare for the future is among the most fundamental tasks the brain performs. To date, the...
The ability to store information about the past to dynamically predict and prepare for the future is among the most fundamental tasks the brain performs. To date, the problems of understanding how the brain stores and organizes information about the past (memory) and how the brain represents and processes temporal information for adaptive behavior have generally been studied as distinct cognitive functions. This Symposium explores the inherent link between memory and temporal cognition, as well as the potential shared neural mechanisms between them. We suggest that working memory and implicit timing are interconnected and may share overlapping neural mechanisms. Additionally, we explore how temporal structure is encoded in associative and episodic memory and, conversely, the influences of episodic memory on subsequent temporal anticipation and the perception of time. We suggest that neural sequences provide a general computational motif that contributes to timing and working memory, as well as the spatiotemporal coding and recall of episodes.
Topics: Brain; Mental Recall; Cognition; Memory, Short-Term; Memory, Episodic
PubMed: 37940593
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1430-23.2023 -
Memory (Hove, England) Mar 2024
Topics: Humans; Memory; Mental Recall
PubMed: 38446865
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2024.2325293 -
Cognition Oct 2023We examine why some words are more memorable than others by using predictive machine learning models applied to word recognition and recall datasets. Our approach...
We examine why some words are more memorable than others by using predictive machine learning models applied to word recognition and recall datasets. Our approach provides more accurate out-of-sample predictions for recognition and recall than previous psychological models, and outperforms human participants in new studies of memorability prediction. Our approach's predictive power stems from its ability to capture the semantic determinants of memorability in a data-driven manner. We identify which semantic categories are important for memorability and show that, unlike features such as word frequency that influence recognition and recall differently, the memorability of semantic categories is consistent across recognition and recall. Our paper sheds light on the complex psychological drivers of memorability, and in doing so illustrates the power of machine learning methods for psychological theory development.
Topics: Humans; Semantics; Mental Recall; Recognition, Psychology; Models, Psychological
PubMed: 37442022
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105497 -
ELife May 2024Our ability to recall details from a remembered image depends on a single mechanism that is engaged from the very moment the image disappears from view.
Our ability to recall details from a remembered image depends on a single mechanism that is engaged from the very moment the image disappears from view.
Topics: Humans; Mental Recall
PubMed: 38700912
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.98274 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Nov 2023Although possible to recall in both forward and backward order, recall proceeds most naturally in the order of encoding. Prior studies ask whether and how forward and...
Although possible to recall in both forward and backward order, recall proceeds most naturally in the order of encoding. Prior studies ask whether and how forward and backward recall differ. We reexamine this classic question by studying recall dynamics while varying the predictability and timing of forward and backward cues. Although overall accuracy did not differ by recall direction, recall dynamics highlight key distinctions. Forward recall exhibits a modest advantage for correct transitions following errors, independent of cueing predictability and list length. Without consistent directional cueing, participants initiate backward recall more accurately, but this effect reverses with predictable directional cues. Following omissions, participants commit more fill-in errors in backward recall. Our findings implicate an asymmetric, cue-dependent retrieval process underlying forward and backward recall, with relative contributions of primacy and recency depending on directional predictability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Mental Recall; Cues
PubMed: 37307323
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001254 -
Perspectives on Psychological Science :... Sep 2023Episodic representations can be entertained either as "remembered" or "imagined"-as outcomes of experience or as simulations of such experience. Here, we argue that this... (Review)
Review
Episodic representations can be entertained either as "remembered" or "imagined"-as outcomes of experience or as simulations of such experience. Here, we argue that this feature is the product of a dedicated cognitive function: the metacognitive capacity to determine the of mental event simulations. We argue that mnemicity attribution should be distinguished from other metacognitive operations (such as reality monitoring) and propose that this attribution is a "cognitive gadget"-a distinctively human ability made possible by cultural learning. Cultural learning is a type of social learning in which traits are inherited through social interaction. In the case of mnemicity, one culturally learns to discriminate metacognitive "feelings of remembering" from other perceptual, emotional, action-related, and metacognitive feelings; to interpret feelings of remembering as indicators of memory rather than imagination; and to broadcast the interpreted feelings in culture- and context-specific ways, such as "I was there" or "I witnessed it myself." We review evidence from the literature on memory development and scaffolding, metacognitive learning and teaching, as well as cross-cultural psychology in support of this view before pointing out various open questions about the nature and development of mnemicity highlighted by our account.
Topics: Humans; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Learning; Metacognition; Emotions; Imagination
PubMed: 36649218
DOI: 10.1177/17456916221141352 -
Psychological Review Nov 2023Affective experiences are commonly represented by either transient emotional reactions to discrete events or longer term, sustained mood states that are characterized by...
Affective experiences are commonly represented by either transient emotional reactions to discrete events or longer term, sustained mood states that are characterized by a more diffuse and global nature. While both have considerable influence in shaping memory, their interaction can produce mood-congruent memory (MCM), a psychological phenomenon where emotional memory is biased toward content affectively congruent with a past or current mood. The study of MCM has direct implications for understanding how memory biases form in daily life, as well as debilitating negative memory schemas that contribute to mood disorders such as depression. To elucidate the factors that influence the presence and strength of MCM, here we systematically review the literature for studies that assessed MCM by inducing mood in healthy participants. We observe that MCM is often reported as enhanced accuracy for previously encoded mood-congruent content or preferential recall for mood-congruent autobiographical events, but may also manifest as false memory for mood-congruent lures. We discuss the relevant conditions that shape these effects, as well as instances of mood-incongruent recall that facilitate mood repair. Further, we provide guiding methodological and theoretical considerations, emphasizing the limited neuroimaging research in this area and the need for a renewed focus on memory consolidation. Accordingly, we propose a theoretical framework for studying the neural basis of MCM based on the neurobiological underpinnings of mood and emotion. In doing so, we review evidence for associative network models of spreading activation, while also considering alternative models informed by the cognitive neuroscience literature of emotional memory bias. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Affect; Emotions; Mental Recall; Memory; Cognition
PubMed: 36201828
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000394 -
Psychological Review Jul 2023There is rich structure in the order in which studied material is recalled in a free recall task (Howard & Kahana, 2002a). Extensive effort has been directed at...
There is rich structure in the order in which studied material is recalled in a free recall task (Howard & Kahana, 2002a). Extensive effort has been directed at understanding the processes and representations that give rise to this structure; however, it remains unclear why certain types of recall organization might be favored in the first place. We provide a rational analysis of the free recall task, deriving the optimal policy for recalling items under the internal representations and processes described by the context maintenance and retrieval (CMR) model of memory search (Polyn et al., 2009a). Our model, which we call rational-CMR, shows that the optimal policy for free recall is to start from the beginning of the list and then sequentially recall forwards, providing a rational account of the primacy and forward asymmetry effects typically observed in free recall. In addition, when recall is not initiated from the beginning of list, it is optimal during recall transitions to minimize the amount of forward asymmetry. Predictions from the rational model are confirmed in human behavioral data: Top-performing human participants demonstrate a stronger tendency to initiate recall from the beginning of the list and carry forward recalls, and the amount of forward asymmetry in participants depends on whether they start recall from the beginning or end of the list. We discuss the resemblance of optimal behavior in free recall to participants' behavior when applying mnemonic techniques such as the method of loci. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Mental Recall
PubMed: 35771549
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000375 -
Nature Communications Nov 2023Inaccessibility of stored memory in ensemble cells through the forgetting process causes animals to be unable to respond to natural recalling cues. While accumulating...
Inaccessibility of stored memory in ensemble cells through the forgetting process causes animals to be unable to respond to natural recalling cues. While accumulating evidence has demonstrated that reactivating memory-stored cells can switch cells from an inaccessible state to an accessible form and lead to recall of previously learned information, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The current study used Drosophila as a model to demonstrate that the memory of one-trial aversive olfactory conditioning, although inaccessible within a few hours after learning, is stored in KCαβ and retrievable after mild retraining. One-trial aversive conditioning triggers protein synthesis to form a long-lasting cellular memory trace, approximately 20 days, via creb in KCαβ, and a transient cellular memory trace, approximately one day, via orb in MBON-α3. PPL1-α3 negatively regulates forgotten one-trial conditioning memory retrieval. The current study demonstrated that KCαβ, PPL1-α3, and MBON-α3 collaboratively regulate the formation of forgotten one-cycle aversive conditioning memory formation and retrieval.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila; Memory; Learning; Conditioning, Psychological; Mental Recall
PubMed: 37935667
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42753-x