Abstract
BackgroundWhile the use of different cognitive strategies when encoding episodic memory information has been extensively investigated, modulation of brain activity by memory self-efficacy beliefs has not been studied yet.Methodology/Principal FindingsSixteen young adults completed the prospective and retrospective metamemory questionnaire, providing individual subjective judgments of everyday memory function. The day after, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the participants had to memorize real-world intentions (e.g., return a book to the library), which were performed later on in a virtual environment. Participants also performed offline cognitive tasks evaluating executive functions, working memory, and attention. During encoding, activity was found in medial temporal lobe, left prefrontal cortex, medial parietal regions, occipital areas, and regions involved in (pre)motor processes. Based on results from the questionnaire, the group was split into low and high memory self-efficacy believers. Comparison of encoding-related brain activity between the 2 groups revealed that the low memory self-efficacy believers activated more the hippocampus bilaterally, right posterior parahippocampal cortex, precuneus, and left lateral temporal cortex. By contrast, more activity was found in dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus for the high-memory believers. In addition, the low-memory believers performed more poorly at feature binding and (at trend) manipulating visuospatial information in working memory.Conclusion/SignificanceOverall, these findings indicate that memory self-efficacy beliefs modulate brain activity during intentional encoding. Low memory self-efficacy believers activated more brain areas involved in visuospatial operations such as the hippocampus. Possibly, this increase reflects attempts to compensate for poor performance of certain neurocognitive processes, such as feature binding. By contrast, high-memory believers seemed to rely more on executive-like processes involved in cognitive control.
Highlights
The neural correlates of episodic memory have been extensively studied using various neuroimaging techniques [1,2,3]
While most of the studies in the field were concerned with the remembering of past events, the definition of episodic memory stipulates that this system enables self-projection into the future [4]
The authors emphasized the fact that ‘‘(developing a plan) has received little attention in the prospective memory literature, yet could be the component most intimately linked with episodic future thinking’’ (p. 533)
Summary
The neural correlates of episodic memory have been extensively studied using various neuroimaging techniques [1,2,3]. While most of the studies in the field were concerned with the remembering of past events, the definition of episodic memory stipulates that this system enables self-projection into the future [4]. The interest for this human capability is quite recent, but sparked off several studies in which the participants had to project themselves in the future by imagining scenarios, given a cue-word [5,6,7]. Most of the neuroimaging studies on prospective memory lack ecological validity, and few experiments have investigated the brain correlates related to the encoding of future intentions [9,10]. While the use of different cognitive strategies when encoding episodic memory information has been extensively investigated, modulation of brain activity by memory self-efficacy beliefs has not been studied yet
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