Abstract
A network of brain regions have been linked with episodic memory retrieval, but limited progress has been made in identifying the contributions of distinct parts of the network. Here, we utilized continuous measures of retrieval to dissociate three components of episodic memory: retrieval success, precision, and vividness. In the fMRI scanner, participants encoded objects that varied continuously on three features: color, orientation, and location. Participants' memory was tested by having them recreate the appearance of the object features using a continuous dial, and continuous vividness judgments were recorded. Retrieval success, precision, and vividness were dissociable both behaviorally and neurally: successful versus unsuccessful retrieval was associated with hippocampal activity, retrieval precision scaled with activity in the angular gyrus, and vividness judgments tracked activity in the precuneus. The ability to dissociate these components of episodic memory reveals the benefit afforded by measuring memory on a continuous scale, allowing functional parcellation of the retrieval network.
Highlights
Remembering previous events is one of the hallmarks of human cognition, with memory retrieval contributing to, and depending on, many other cognitive abilities
It has been suggested that the memory retrieval network can be divided into two sub-systems (Ranganath and Ritchey, 2012), both anchored on the hippocampus: an anterior temporal system, comprising the amygdala, temporopolar cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and perirhinal cortex, and a posterior medial system, including regions such as the posterior cingulate, precuneus, angular gyrus (AnG), medial prefrontal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex
The anterior temporal system is more related to semantic memory, familiarity judgments, and event salience, whereas the posterior medial system contributes to episodic memory and recollection
Summary
Remembering previous events is one of the hallmarks of human cognition, with memory retrieval contributing to, and depending on, many other cognitive abilities. It has been suggested that the memory retrieval network can be divided into two sub-systems (Ranganath and Ritchey, 2012), both anchored on the hippocampus: an anterior temporal system, comprising the amygdala, temporopolar cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and perirhinal cortex, and a posterior medial system, including regions such as the posterior cingulate, precuneus, angular gyrus (AnG), medial prefrontal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex. According to this framework, the anterior temporal system is more related to semantic memory, familiarity judgments, and event salience, whereas the posterior medial system contributes to episodic memory and recollection. In order to distinguish memory retrieval components and the role of regions within the retrieval network, it is necessary to use sensitive measures that can detect
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