Testing alters brain activity during subsequent restudy: Evidence for test-potentiated encoding

Abstract

Mixed testing/studying lead to better memory retention compared to repeated study only. A potentiating influence of tests on encoding, particularly during restudy of non-retrieved items, may contribute to this effect. This study investigated whether and how testing affects brain activity during subsequent restudy of Swahili–Swedish word pairs after a cued-recall test. Item-events during fMRI were categorized according to history (tested/studied only) and recall outcome at prescan and postscan tests. Activity was higher for tested compared to studied-only items in anterior insula, orbital parts of inferior frontal gyrus and hippocampus, and lower in regions implicated in the default network, such as precuneus, supramarginal gyrus and the posterior middle cingulate. Findings are discussed in terms of top-down biasing of attention to tested items with concomitant deactivation of regions in the default network. Increased/focused attention to tested items during restudy may lead to test-potentiated encoding via deeper semantic processing and increased associative binding.