Abstract
Posterior parietal cortex is frequently activated during episodic memory retrieval but its role during retrieval and its interactions with the hippocampus are not yet clear. In this fMRI study, we investigated the neural bases of recognition memory when study repetitions and retrieval goals were manipulated. During encoding participants studied words either once or three times, and during retrieval they were rewarded more to detect either studied words or new words. We found that (1) dorsal parietal cortex (DPC) was more engaged during detection of items studied once compared to three times, whereas regions in the ventral parietal cortex (VPC) responded more to items studied multiple times; (2) DPC, within a network of brain regions functionally connected to the anterior hippocampus, responded more to items consistent with retrieval goals (associated with high reward); (3) VPC, within a network of brain regions functionally connected to the posterior hippocampus, responded more to items not aligned with retrieval goals (i.e., unexpected). These findings support the hypothesis that DPC and VPC regions contribute differentially to top-down vs. bottom-up attention to memory. Moreover, they reveal a dissociation in the functional profile of the anterior and posterior hippocampi.
Highlights
The ability to recollect specific past events, or episodic memory, depends on the interplay between the bottom–up emergence of stored memory traces and the top–down control of this process according to retrieval goals (e.g., Henson et al, 1999; Ranganath et al, 2000; Dudukovic and Wagner, 2007; Han et al, 2010; Quamme et al, 2010; Scimeca and Badre, 2012; Preston and Eichenbaum, 2013; Moscovitch et al, 2016)
Top–down control retrieval processes have been attributed to the prefrontal cortex, deemed necessary to manage encoding and retrieval operations according to retrieval goals, while interacting with the hippocampus and associated medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions (Moscovitch and Winocur, 1992; Dobbins et al, 2002; Simons and Spiers, 2003)
The posterior parietal cortex has long been associated with attention – not memory – and, there have been many attempts to explain the involvement of posterior parietal cortex in episodic memory retrieval
Summary
The ability to recollect specific past events, or episodic memory, depends on the interplay between the bottom–up emergence of stored memory traces and the top–down control of this process according to retrieval goals (e.g., Henson et al, 1999; Ranganath et al, 2000; Dudukovic and Wagner, 2007; Han et al, 2010; Quamme et al, 2010; Scimeca and Badre, 2012; Preston and Eichenbaum, 2013; Moscovitch et al, 2016). Top–down control retrieval processes have been attributed to the prefrontal cortex, deemed necessary to manage encoding and retrieval operations according to retrieval goals, while interacting with the hippocampus and associated medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions (Moscovitch and Winocur, 1992; Dobbins et al, 2002; Simons and Spiers, 2003). The posterior parietal cortex has long been associated with attention – not memory – and, there have been many attempts to explain the involvement of posterior parietal cortex in episodic memory retrieval (see, for reviews, Cabeza et al, 2008, 2012; Rugg and Vilberg, 2013; Gilmore et al, 2015; Humphreys and Lambon Ralph, 2017; Sestieri et al, 2017)
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