Recognition Memory Task Research Articles

Indicators of suboptimal performance embedded in the Wechsler Memory Scale–Fourth Edition (WMS–IV)

ABSTRACTIntroduction. Recognition and visual working memory tasks from the Wechsler Memory Scale–Fourth Edition (WMS–IV) have previously been documented as useful indicators for suboptimal performance. The present study examined the clinical utility of the Dutch version of the WMS–IV (WMS–IV–NL) for the identification of suboptimal performance using an analogue study design.Method. The patient group consisted of 59 mixed-etiology patients; the experimental malingerers were 50 healthy individuals who were asked to simulate cognitive impairment as a result of a traumatic brain injury; the last group consisted of 50 healthy controls who were instructed to put forth full effort.Results. Experimental malingerers performed significantly lower on all WMS–IV–NL tasks than did the patients and healthy controls. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed on the experimental malingerers and the patients. The first model contained the visual working memory subtests (Spatial Addition and Symbol Span) and the recognition tasks of the following subtests: Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates, Designs, Visual Reproduction. The results showed an overall classification rate of 78.4%, and only Spatial Addition explained a significant amount of variation (p < .001). Subsequent logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis supported the discriminatory power of the subtest Spatial Addition. A scaled score cutoff of <4 produced 93% specificity and 52% sensitivity for detection of suboptimal performance.Conclusion. The WMS–IV–NL Spatial Addition subtest may provide clinically useful information for the detection of suboptimal performance.

ID 88 – Anterior thalamus in cognition: An intracerebral recording study

Objective To study the involvement of the anterior thalamic nuclei (ANT) in the cognitive processes. Methods We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) by visual and auditory memory encoding-recognition tasks by intracerebral recordings in patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy who underwent the deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery of the anterior thalamic nuclei with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the ANT. We compared the results with epilepsy-surgery candidates with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the hippocampus. Results In the ANT we recorded ERPs during the visual encoding and visual and auditory recognition tasks. No significant ERPs were recorded during the encoding phase by auditory stimuli in ANT. In hippocampus ERPs were recorded by visual and auditory memory encoding and recognition tasks. In the recognition tasks (visual and auditory) the ERPs in ANT preceded the ERPs in hippocampus. Conclusions ERPs are elicited by visual memory encoding and recognition, as well as by auditory recognition memory processes, but not by encoding auditory memory processing in the ANT. The ANT precedes the hippocampus in the memory recognition pathway. Key message ANT has a specific role in the memory processes, especially the memory recognition.

Modulation of Recognition Memory for Emotional Images by Vertical Vection

Our previous research showed that vertical vection could modulate human mood. We further examined this possibility by using memory recognition task of positive, negative and neutral emotional images with high and low arousal levels. Those images were remembered accidentally while the participants did visual dummy task, and later presented together with novel images during vertical vection-inducing or neutral visual stimuli. The results showed that downward vection facilitated the recognition of negative images and inhibited the recognition of positive ones. These modulations of incidental memory task provide an additional evidence for vection influence on cognitive and emotional processing, and also provide a new paradigm that can be used in future vection and embodied cognition research.

Effect of obesity on cognition in adults with and without a mood disorder: study design and methods

IntroductionObesity is a common medical illness that is increasingly recognised as conferring risk of decline in cognitive performance, independent of other comorbid medical conditions. Individuals with mood disorders (bipolar disorder...

A dynamic model of reasoning and memory.

Previous models of category-based induction have neglected how the process of induction unfolds over time. We conceive of induction as a dynamic process and provide the first fine-grained examination of the distribution of response times observed in inductive reasoning. We used these data to develop and empirically test the first major quantitative modeling scheme that simultaneously accounts for inductive decisions and their time course. The model assumes that knowledge of similarity relations among novel test probes and items stored in memory drive an accumulation-to-bound sequential sampling process: Test probes with high similarity to studied exemplars are more likely to trigger a generalization response, and more rapidly, than items with low exemplar similarity. We contrast data and model predictions for inductive decisions with a recognition memory task using a common stimulus set. Hierarchical Bayesian analyses across 2 experiments demonstrated that inductive reasoning and recognition memory primarily differ in the threshold to trigger a decision: Observers required less evidence to make a property generalization judgment (induction) than an identity statement about a previously studied item (recognition). Experiment 1 and a condition emphasizing decision speed in Experiment 2 also found evidence that inductive decisions use lower quality similarity-based information than recognition. The findings suggest that induction might represent a less cautious form of recognition. We conclude that sequential sampling models grounded in exemplar-based similarity, combined with hierarchical Bayesian analysis, provide a more fine-grained and informative analysis of the processes involved in inductive reasoning than is possible solely through examination of choice data.

Sex-specific effects of daily exposure to sucrose on spatial memory performance in male and female rats, and implications for estrous cycle stage

Excessive consumption of sugar sweetened drinks is proposed to produce functional changes in the hippocampus, leading to perturbations in learning and memory. In this study we examined the impact of 2h daily access to 10% sucrose (or no sucrose in controls) on recognition memory tasks in young male and female rats. In Experiment 1 we tested rats on memory tasks reliant on the hippocampus (place recognition), perirhinal cortex (object recognition), and a combination of hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and perirhinal cortex (object-in-place memory). Exposure to sucrose for 2h a day for 14days prior to behavioral testing did not affect object recognition, but impaired spatial memory to an extent in both male and female rats. Male rats exposed to sucrose were impaired at both place recognition and object-in-place recognition, however female rats showed no impairment in object-in-place performance. Plasticity within the hippocampus is known to increase during the proestrus phase of the estrous cycle and is related to higher levels of circulating estrogens. In Experiment 2 we tested place recognition and object-in-place memory in 10% sucrose exposed or non-exposed control female rats both during the metestrus (low estrogen) and proestrus (high estrogen) phases of their cycle on place recognition and object-in-place memory. Both sucrose exposed and control female rats were able to perform place object-in-place recognition correctly during metestrus and proestrus, however sucrose exposed rats were only able to perform place recognition correctly during proestrus. This indicates that when hippocampal function is compromised, endogenous estrogens may boost memory performance in females, and that males may be at more risk of high sugar diet induced cognitive deficits.

Declarative capacity does not trade-off with procedural capacity in children with specific language impairment

Background and aimsThe procedural deficit hypothesis attributes the language phenotype in children with specific language impairment to an impaired procedural and relatively intact declarative memory system. The declarative compensatory hypothesis is an extension of the procedural deficit hypothesis which claims that the declarative system in specific language impairment compensates for the procedural deficit. The present study’s aim was to examine the claims of the procedural deficit hypothesis and declarative compensatory hypothesis by examining these memory systems and relation between them in specific language impairment.MethodsParticipants were children aged 8–13 years, 30 with specific language impairment and 30 typically developing controls, who spoke Kannada (an agglutinating language of the Dravidian family). Procedural learning was assessed using a serial reaction time task. Declarative memory was assessed using two non-verbal tasks that differed at the level of encoding and retrieval: a recognition memory task after incidental encoding using real and novel object images and a recall task after intentional encoding using visual paired associates. Retrieval was examined after short (10 min) and long (60 min) delays after encoding on both declarative tasks.ResultsFindings confirmed that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have impaired procedural memory on a non-verbal serial reaction time task. On recognition memory task after incidental encoding though children with specific language impairment encoded less well, they recognized items as well as typically developing controls. Both the groups retrieved more at short compared to long intervals and retrieved real (verbalizable) objects better than novel objects. On visual paired associates (recall task with intentional encoding) children with specific language impairment retrieved less than typically developing children (even after controlling for non-verbal ability and age). Furthermore, across retrieval types of declarative tasks, although children with specific language impairment did less well than typically developing, their pattern of performance was comparable to typically developing children. Finally, the correlation between memory systems did not support a trade-off between memory systems in children with SLI as predicted by the compensatory wing of procedural deficit hypothesis.ConclusionsThe findings supported the major claim of the procedural deficit hypothesis – a procedural learning deficit in specific language impairment and an intact declarative system, however, only if measured on task that was designed to be undemanding. Furthermore, there was no evidence for a trade-off between these systems.Implications and future directionsSome interventions with specific language impairment use explicit teaching of grammar, an approach that uses the declarative rather than the procedural system. Our findings cast doubt on whether this is likely to be the most effective strategy.

The role of encoding strategy in younger and older adult associative recognition: A think-aloud analysis.

Older adults have especially poor recognition memory for word pairs, and research suggests this associative deficit manifests primarily in older adults' higher rates of false alarms. This could result from older adults either failing to generate meaningful (deep) mediators at study, or failing to benefit from having generated deep mediators at test. Younger and older adults performed a recognition memory task for words and word pairs. A think-aloud analysis of their spontaneous encoding strategies (repetition, shallow mediators, deep mediators) revealed that generation of deep mediators did not differ between younger and older adults, and was associated with high hit rates for items and associates in both age groups. However, generation of deep mediators was inversely related to false alarm rates in younger adults but not older adults. A trial-level analysis of encoding strategies and recognition responses revealed that younger adults benefited from having generated deep mediators when presented with corresponding recombined pairs at test as shown in their lower false alarm rates. In contrast, older adults who generated deep mediators during study (e.g., to blanket-figure) did not benefit from having done so when they encountered the corresponding recombined pairs at test (blanket-summer and district-figure). Their false alarm rates to pairs at test were unrelated to generation of deep mediators at study. These results suggest that many older adults have difficulty retrieving their mediators when presented with recombined pairs at test, or their mediators are not distinct enough to distinguish intact pairs from recombined pairs at test, or some combination of both. (PsycINFO Database Record

A four-component model of age-related memory change.

We develop a novel, computationally explicit, theory of age-related memory change within the framework of the context maintenance and retrieval (CMR2) model of memory search. We introduce a set of benchmark findings from the free recall and recognition tasks that include aspects of memory performance that show both age-related stability and decline. We test aging theories by lesioning the corresponding mechanisms in a model fit to younger adult free recall data. When effects are considered in isolation, many theories provide an adequate account, but when all effects are considered simultaneously, the existing theories fail. We develop a novel theory by fitting the full model (i.e., allowing all parameters to vary) to individual participants and comparing the distributions of parameter values for older and younger adults. This theory implicates 4 components: (a) the ability to sustain attention across an encoding episode, (b) the ability to retrieve contextual representations for use as retrieval cues, (c) the ability to monitor retrievals and reject intrusions, and (d) the level of noise in retrieval competitions. We extend CMR2 to simulate a recognition memory task using the same mechanisms the free recall model uses to reject intrusions. Without fitting any additional parameters, the 4-component theory that accounts for age differences in free recall predicts the magnitude of age differences in recognition memory accuracy. Confirming a prediction of the model, free recall intrusion rates correlate positively with recognition false alarm rates. Thus, we provide a 4-component theory of a complex pattern of age differences across 2 key laboratory tasks.

Communicative Signals Promote Object Recognition Memory and Modulate the Right Posterior STS.

Detection of communicative signals is thought to facilitate knowledge acquisition early in life, but less is known about the role these signals play in adult learning or about the brain systems supporting sensitivity to communicative intent. The current study examined how ostensive gaze cues and communicative actions affect adult recognition memory and modulate neural activity as measured by fMRI. For both the behavioral and fMRI experiments, participants viewed a series of videos of an actress acting on one of two objects in front of her. Communicative context in the videos was manipulated in a 2 × 2 design in which the actress either had direct gaze (Gaze) or wore a visor (NoGaze) and either pointed at (Point) or reached for (Reach) one of the objects (target) in front of her. Participants then completed a recognition memory task with old (target and nontarget) objects and novel objects. Recognition memory for target objects in the Gaze conditions was greater than NoGaze, but no effects of gesture type were seen. Similarly, the fMRI video-viewing task revealed a significant effect of Gaze within right posterior STS (pSTS), but no significant effects of Gesture. Furthermore, pSTS sensitivity to Gaze conditions was related to greater memory for objects viewed in Gaze, as compared with NoGaze, conditions. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the ostensive, communicative signal of direct gaze preceding an object-directed action enhances recognition memory for attended items and modulates the pSTS response to object-directed actions. Thus, establishment of a communicative context through ostensive signals remains an important component of learning and memory into adulthood, and the pSTS may play a role in facilitating this type of social learning.

A High-Fat Diet Causes Impairment in Hippocampal Memory and Sex-Dependent Alterations in Peripheral Metabolism.

While high-fat diets are associated with rising incidence of obesity/type-2 diabetes and can induce metabolic and cognitive deficits, sex-dependent comparisons are rarely systematically made. Effects of exclusive consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) on systemic metabolism and on behavioral measures of hippocampal-dependent memory were compared in young male and female LE rats. Littermates were fed from weaning either a HFD or a control diet (CD) for 12 wk prior to testing. Sex-different effects of the HFD were observed in classic metabolic signs associated with type-2 diabetes. Males fed the HFD became obese, and had elevated fasted blood glucose levels, elevated corticosterone, and impaired glucose-tolerance, while females on the HFD exhibited only elevated corticosterone. Regardless of peripheral metabolism alteration, rats of both sexes fed the HFD were equally impaired in a spatial object recognition memory task associated with impaired hippocampal function. While the metabolic changes reported here have been characterized previously in males, the set of diet-induced effects observed here in females are novel. Impaired memory can have significant cognitive consequences, over the short-term and over the lifespan. A significant need exists for comparative research into sex-dependent differences underlying obesity and metabolic syndromes relating systemic, cognitive, and neural plasticity mechanisms.

Serotonin 2a Receptor and Serotonin 1a Receptor Interact Within the Medial Prefrontal Cortex During Recognition Memory in Mice.

Episodic memory, can be defined as the memory for unique events. The serotonergic system one of the main neuromodulatory systems in the brain appears to play a role in it. The serotonin 2a receptor (5-HT2aR) one of the principal post-synaptic receptors for 5-HT in the brain, is involved in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders associated with memory deficits. Recognition memory can be defined as the ability to recognize if a particular event or item was previously encountered and is thus considered, under certain conditions, a form of episodic memory. As human data suggest that a constitutively decrease of 5-HT2A signaling might affect episodic memory performance we decided to compare the performance of mice with disrupted 5-HT2aR signaling (htr2a−/−) with wild type (htr2a+/+) littermates in different recognition memory and working memory tasks that differed in the level of proactive interference. We found that ablation of 5-HT2aR signaling throughout development produces a deficit in tasks that cannot be solved by single item strategy suggesting that 5-HT2aR signaling is involved in interference resolution. We also found that in the absence of 5-HT2aR signaling serotonin has a deleterious effect on recognition memory retrieval through the activation of 5-HT1aR in the medial prefrontal cortex.

Modulating Memory Performance in Healthy Subjects with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.

ObjectiveThe role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) in recognition memory has been well documented in lesion, neuroimaging and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the left and the right DLPFC during the delay interval of a non-verbal recognition memory task.Method36 right-handed young healthy subjects participated in the study. The experimental task was an Italian version of Recognition Memory Test for unknown faces. Study included two experiments: in a first experiment, each subject underwent one session of sham tDCS and one session of left or right cathodal tDCS; in a second experiment each subject underwent one session of sham tDCS and one session of left or right anodal tDCS.ResultsCathodal tDCS over the right DLPFC significantly improved non verbal recognition memory performance, while cathodal tDCS over the left DLPFC had no effect. Anodal tDCS of both the left and right DLPFC did not modify non verbal recognition memory performance.ConclusionComplementing the majority of previous studies, reporting long term memory facilitations following left prefrontal anodal tDCS, the present findings show that cathodal tDCS of the right DLPFC can also improve recognition memory in healthy subjects.

Face likeability mediates the memory-enhancing effect of face attractiveness in young but not older adults

ABSTRACTEvidence of effects of face attractiveness on memory is mixed and little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Previous work suggests a possible mediating role of affective responding to faces (i.e., face likeability) on the relationship between face attractiveness and memory. Age-related change in social motivation may reduce the relevance of face attractiveness in older adults, with downstream effects on memory. In the present study, 50 young and 51 older participants were presented with face-trait pairs. Faces varied in attractiveness. Participants then completed a face-trait associative recognition memory task and provided likeability ratings for each face. There was a memory-enhancing effect of face attractiveness in young (but not older) participants, which was partially mediated by face likeability. In addition, more attractive and less attractive (compared to moderately attractive) faces were more likely remembered by both young and older participants. This quadratic effect of face attractiveness on memory was not mediated by face likeability. Findings are discussed in the context of motivational influences on memory that vary with age.

Dissociable behavioural outcomes of visual statistical learning

ABSTRACTStatistical learning refers to the extraction of probabilistic relationships between stimuli and is increasingly used as a method to understand learning processes. However, numerous cognitive processes are sensitive to the statistical relationships between stimuli and any one measure of learning may conflate these processes; to date little research has focused on differentiating these processes. To understand how multiple processes underlie statistical learning, here we compared, within the same study, operational measures of learning from different tasks that may be differentially sensitive to these processes. In Experiment 1, participants were visually exposed to temporal regularities embedded in a stream of shapes. Their task was to periodically detect whether a shape, whose contrast was staircased to a threshold level, was present or absent. Afterwards, they completed a search task, where statistically predictable shapes were found more quickly. We used the search task to label shape pairs as “learned” or “non-learned”, and then used these labels to analyse the detection task. We found a dissociation between learning on the search task and the detection task where only non-learned pairs showed learning effects in the detection task. This finding was replicated in further experiments with recognition memory (Experiment 2) and associative learning tasks (Experiment 3). Taken together, these findings are consistent with the view that statistical learning may comprise a family of processes that can produce dissociable effects on different aspects of behaviour.

Cortisol and stimulus-induced arousal level differentially impact memory for items and backgrounds

ABSTRACTMost studies examine the effects of stress on memory for visual information test memory for entire scenes. However, arousal levels may differentially influence memory for backgrounds as opposed to items. Participants encoded scenes that included a negative-high-arousal, negative-moderate-arousal, or neutral item on a neutral background. After a 30-minute (Experiment 1) or 48-hour delay (Experiment 2), participants underwent a stressor or control task while heart rate was recorded. A recognition memory task was then given with items and backgrounds presented separately. High-arousal images had a greater detriment in background memory than moderate-arousal images. Further, though there was evidence that change in cortisol level at retrieval was associated with impaired memory for items, it was not associated with detriments in background memory. Increased heart rate was associated with impaired memory for both items and backgrounds. This suggests that the level of sympathetic and cortisol reactivity differentially affects memory for items and backgrounds.

How Well Do Computer-Generated Faces Tap Face Expertise?

The use of computer-generated (CG) stimuli in face processing research is proliferating due to the ease with which faces can be generated, standardised and manipulated. However there has been surprisingly little research into whether CG faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces. The present study assessed how well CG faces tap face identity expertise by investigating whether two indicators of face expertise are reduced for CG faces when compared to face photographs. These indicators were accuracy for identification of own-race faces and the other-race effect (ORE)–the well-established finding that own-race faces are recognised more accurately than other-race faces. In Experiment 1 Caucasian and Asian participants completed a recognition memory task for own- and other-race real and CG faces. Overall accuracy for own-race faces was dramatically reduced for CG compared to real faces and the ORE was significantly and substantially attenuated for CG faces. Experiment 2 investigated perceptual discrimination for own- and other-race real and CG faces with Caucasian and Asian participants. Here again, accuracy for own-race faces was significantly reduced for CG compared to real faces. However the ORE was not affected by format. Together these results signal that CG faces of the type tested here do not fully tap face expertise. Technological advancement may, in the future, produce CG faces that are equivalent to real photographs. Until then caution is advised when interpreting results obtained using CG faces.

Visual scanning behavior is related to recognition performance for own- and other-age faces.

It is well-established that our recognition ability is enhanced for faces belonging to familiar categories, such as own-race faces and own-age faces. Recent evidence suggests that, for race, the recognition bias is also accompanied by different visual scanning strategies for own- compared to other-race faces. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these differences in visual scanning patterns extend also to the comparison between own and other-age faces and contribute to the own-age recognition advantage. Participants (young adults with limited experience with infants) were tested in an old/new recognition memory task where they encoded and subsequently recognized a series of adult and infant faces while their eye movements were recorded. Consistent with findings on the other-race bias, we found evidence of an own-age bias in recognition which was accompanied by differential scanning patterns, and consequently differential encoding strategies, for own-compared to other-age faces. Gaze patterns for own-age faces involved a more dynamic sampling of the internal features and longer viewing time on the eye region compared to the other regions of the face. This latter strategy was extensively employed during learning (vs. recognition) and was positively correlated to discriminability. These results suggest that deeply encoding the eye region is functional for recognition and that the own-age bias is evident not only in differential recognition performance, but also in the employment of different sampling strategies found to be effective for accurate recognition.

The Role of Anterior Nuclei of the Thalamus: A Subcortical Gate in Memory Processing: An Intracerebral Recording Study.

ObjectiveTo study the involvement of the anterior nuclei of the thalamus (ANT) as compared to the involvement of the hippocampus in the processes of encoding and recognition during visual and verbal memory tasks.MethodsWe studied intracerebral recordings in patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ANT with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the ANT and compared the results with epilepsy surgery candidates with depth electrodes implanted bilaterally in the hippocampus. We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by the visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks.ResultsP300-like potentials were recorded in the hippocampus by visual and verbal memory encoding and recognition tasks and in the ANT by the visual encoding and visual and verbal recognition tasks. No significant ERPs were recorded during the verbal encoding task in the ANT. In the visual and verbal recognition tasks, the P300-like potentials in the ANT preceded the P300-like potentials in the hippocampus.ConclusionsThe ANT is a structure in the memory pathway that processes memory information before the hippocampus. We suggest that the ANT has a specific role in memory processes, especially memory recognition, and that memory disturbance should be considered in patients with ANT-DBS and in patients with ANT lesions.ANT is well positioned to serve as a subcortical gate for memory processing in cortical structures.

Neural correlates of successful memory retrieval in aging: Do executive functioning and task difficulty matter?

The current experiment aimed to explore age differences in brain activity associated with successful memory retrieval in older adults with different levels of executive functioning, at different levels of task demand. Memory performance and fMRI activity during a recognition task were compared between a young group and two older groups characterized by a low (old-low group) vs. high (old-high group) level of executive functioning. Participants first encoded pictures, presented once (Hard condition) or twice (Easy condition), and then completed a recognition memory task. Old-low adults had poorer memory performance than the two other groups, which did not differ, in both levels of task demands. In the Easy condition, even though older adults demonstrated reduced activity compared to young adults in several regions, they also showed additional activations in the right superior frontal gyrus and right parietal lobule (positively correlated to memory accuracy) for the old-high group and in the right precuneus (negatively correlated to memory accuracy), right anterior cingulate gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus for the old-low group. In the Hard condition, some regions were also more activated in the young group than in the older groups. Vice versa, old-high participants demonstrated more activity than either the young or the old-low group in the right frontal gyrus, associated with more accurate memory performance, and in the left frontal gyrus. In sum, the present study clearly showed that age differences in the neural correlates of retrieval success were modulated by task difficulty, as suggested by the CRUNCH model, but also by interindividual variability, in particular regarding executive functioning.