Parietal cortex contributions to information granules following memory consolidation

Abstract

Previous studies have focused on changes in cerebral cortex activity accompanying memory formation and consolidation. Although the role of the parietal cortex in memory retrieval is well established, it is not well understood how parietal cortex memory consolidation for mathematical rules is related to granularity of stored information (i.e., degree of detail or precision). Changes in parietal cortex activity associated with memory consolidation were analyzed using the Ebbinghaus paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Over the course of 1 week, participants learned Boolean arithmetic tasks involving stimulus-response mapping rules containing either low- or high-granularity information. FMRI images were collected on day 1 (i.e., low-granularity condition) and day 7 (i.e., high-granularity condition). The present data suggested that with practice, stored information was converted from a low-granularity to a high-granularity form. By following rule learning, it was hypothesized that the process of consolidation would involve an increased degree of rule representation granularity. Evidence for this process was reflected in parietal cortex activity. This finding was consistent with the hypothesis that mnemonic reconstruction in the parietal cortex is required for memory consolidation, and results suggested that information granules are formed during memory consolidation. The present results could increase the understanding of the relationship between memory consolidation and information granularity.