Abstract
We are constantly interacting with our environment whilst we encode memories. However, how actions influence memory formation remains poorly understood. Goal-directed movement engages the locus coeruleus (LC), the main source of noradrenaline in the brain. Noradrenaline is also known to enhance episodic encoding, suggesting that action could improve memory via LC engagement. Here we demonstrate, across seven experiments, that action (Go-response) enhances episodic encoding for stimuli unrelated to the action itself, compared to action inhibition (NoGo). Functional magnetic resonance imaging, and pupil diameter as a proxy measure for LC-noradrenaline transmission, indicate increased encoding-related LC activity during action. A final experiment, replicated in two independent samples, confirmed a novel prediction derived from these data that emotionally aversive stimuli, which recruit the noradrenergic system, modulate the mnemonic advantage conferred by Go-responses relative to neutral stimuli. We therefore provide converging evidence that action boosts episodic memory encoding via a noradrenergic mechanism.
Highlights
A on memory for Go items depending on whether there were 0,1,2,3 or 4 preceding NoGo items yielded no significant interaction for any of the experiments (Supplementary Table 4)
Given that in all experiments, memory for Go stimuli was compared to NoGo items, we employed two strategies to make the case that the memory difference between these two stimulus classes reflected enhanced Go, and not impaired NoGo, encoding
This contradicts a recent suggestion of response inhibitioninduced episodic memory impairment[56,57]
Summary
A on memory for Go items depending on whether there were 0,1,2,3 or 4 preceding NoGo items yielded no significant interaction for any of the experiments (Supplementary Table 4). BICbased estimation of posterior probabilities for Exp 1 yielded a ΔBIC10 1⁄4 92:04; PrBICðH0jDÞ 1⁄4 $ 1 (Supplementary Table 4), showing very strong evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. We note that target detection-evoked memory enhancement occurs when a target requires a button-press, as well as in the absence of any required action[28], suggesting that target detection modulates memory via a different mechanism than action. Improved recognition performance for target-paired than for distractor-paired images has been shown to benefit both “familiar” and “remember” judgments[28], whereas the effect described here does not extend to familiar old judgments
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