Recollection-based Memory Research Articles

Medial temporal lobe function and recognition memory: a novel approach to separating the contribution of recollection and familiarity.

Human neuroimaging studies of recognition memory have often been interpreted to mean that the hippocampus supports recollection but not familiarity. This interpretation is complicated by the fact that recollection-based decisions are typically associated with stronger memories than familiarity-based decisions. Some studies of source memory controlled for this difference in memory strength and found that hippocampal activity during learning predicted subsequent item memory strength while recollection-based memory (performance on source memory questions) was held at chance. This result suggests that the hippocampus is important for familiarity. However, a difficulty with this approach is that when source memory is assessed by asking specific, task-relevant source memory questions, participants who fail to answer the prescribed questions might nevertheless have available other (task-irrelevant) source information. Accordingly, successful item memory could still be associated with recollection. The present study used a novel method to assess item memory and source memory. Instead of responding to specific source questions, participants rated their source memory strength based on any information about the learning episode that was available to them. When subsequent source memory strength was held constant at the lowest possible level, we identified regions bilaterally in hippocampus, as well as in perirhinal cortex, where activity during learning increased as subsequent item memory increased in strength. In addition, activity in cortical regions (including prefrontal cortex) was related to source memory success independently of item memory strength. These findings suggest that activity in the hippocampus is related to the encoding of familiarity-based item memory, independent of subsequent recollection-based success.

Sex differences in face recognition memory:an ERP study on the own-gender bias

Event Abstract Back to Event Sex differences in face recognition memory:an ERP study on the own-gender bias Nicole Wolff1*, Kathleen Kemter1, Stefan R. Schweinberger1 and Holger Wiese1 1 FSU Jena, Germany Previous studies reported that participants are more accurate at remembering faces of their own as compared to the other gender, a phenomenon known as the own-gender bias. The present study is the first to examine neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon by investigating event-related potential (ERP) correlates of recognition memory for young adult female and male faces in young adult female and male participants. Behavioural results demonstrated an own-gender-bias for male participants, reflecting more accurate recognition memory for male as compared to female faces. No corresponding bias was observed for female participants. Importantly, an interaction of face by participant gender was found in the early ERP old/new effect, which consisted of more positive amplitudes for hits compared to correct rejections between 300-500 ms. Thus, in female participants the early old/new effect was enhanced for female as compared to male faces. By contrast, an increased early old/new effect for male as compared to female faces was detected in male participants. Additionally, in the subsequent time window (500-800 ms) enhanced old/new effects for female as compared to male faces were observed in both male and female participants. Whereas this late old/new effect suggests increased recollection-based memory for female faces in both male and female observers, results in the early old/new effect time window may indicate increased familiarity-based recognition for faces of the participants’ respective gender. Stronger reliance on feelings of familiarity in male as compared to female participants may thus underlie the asymmetrical behavioural own-gender bias in the present study. Funding: DFG - German Research Foundation. Keywords: EEG, Memory Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Memory and Learning Citation: Wolff N, Kemter K, Schweinberger SR and Wiese H (2011). Sex differences in face recognition memory:an ERP study on the own-gender bias. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00411 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 24 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Nicole Wolff, FSU Jena, Jena, Germany, nicole.wolff@uni-jena.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Nicole Wolff Kathleen Kemter Stefan R Schweinberger Holger Wiese Google Nicole Wolff Kathleen Kemter Stefan R Schweinberger Holger Wiese Google Scholar Nicole Wolff Kathleen Kemter Stefan R Schweinberger Holger Wiese PubMed Nicole Wolff Kathleen Kemter Stefan R Schweinberger Holger Wiese Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Age differences in the contribution of recollection and familiarity to false‐memory formation: a new paradigm to examine developmental reversals

Using a new method for studying the development of false-memory formation, we examined developmental differences in the rates at which 6-, 7-, 9-, 10-, and 18-year-olds made two types of memory errors: backward causal-inference errors (i.e. falsely remembering having viewed the non-viewed cause of a previously viewed effect), and gap-filling errors (i.e. falsely remembering having viewed a script-consistent event that was not actually witnessed). Previous research suggests that backward causal-inference errors are supported by recollection, whereas gap-filling errors are supported by familiarity. We hypothesized that age differences in these errors would parallel the developmental trajectories of these processes. As predicted, age-related increases in backward causal-inference errors were observed, while gap-filling errors were age-invariant, suggesting that recollection-based memory distortions increase with age while familiarity-based memory distortions are relatively stable from middle childhood through adulthood.

Influence of Emotional Expression on Memory Recognition Bias in Schizophrenia as Revealed by fMRI

We recently showed that, in healthy individuals, emotional expression influences memory for faces both in terms of accuracy and, critically, in memory response bias (tendency to classify stimuli as previously seen or not, regardless of whether this was the case). Although schizophrenia has been shown to be associated with deficit in episodic memory and emotional processing, the relation between these processes in this population remains unclear. Here, we used our previously validated paradigm to directly investigate the modulation of emotion on memory recognition. Twenty patients with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of recognition memory of happy, sad, and neutral faces. Brain activity associated with the response bias was obtained by correlating this measure with the contrast subjective old (ie, hits and false alarms) minus subjective new (misses and correct rejections) for sad and happy expressions. Although patients exhibited an overall lower memory performance than controls, they showed the same effects of emotion on memory, both in terms of accuracy and bias. For sad faces, the similar behavioral pattern between groups was mirrored by a largely overlapping neural network, mostly involved in familiarity-based judgments (eg, parahippocampal gyrus). In contrast, controls activated a much larger set of regions for happy faces, including areas thought to underlie recollection-based memory retrieval (eg, superior frontal gyrus and hippocampus) and in novelty detection (eg, amygdala). This study demonstrates that, despite an overall lower memory accuracy, emotional memory is intact in schizophrenia, although emotion-specific differences in brain activation exist, possibly reflecting different strategies.

Effect of intranasally administered cholecystokinin on encoding of controlled and automatic memory processes

The neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) is present in abundance in the central nervous system, where it is involved in the regulation of a wide range of functions. It also takes part in the modulation of memory processes, but its effect on human memory systems and processes is not yet well understood. The present experiment was conducted to examine the influence of CCK when present during encoding on later controlled and automatic recognition memory processes in humans. A version of the process dissociation procedure was used to separate the contributions of controlled and automatic memory processes to participants' recognition memory performance. Data were analyzed within a multinomial modeling framework. Participants (N = 64) received either 40 microg CCK-8S or placebo intranasally. The learning and test phases began 30 min after substance application. Behavioral, physiological, and self-report control variables were measured at three points of time during the experiment. Compared to placebo, CCK increased the automatic, familiarity-based recognition memory component, while the parameter representing controlled, retrieval-based processes did not differ between groups. Also, in the exclusion condition of the test phase, the guessing parameter was reduced by CCK. None of the control variables were affected by the peptide. This result-the enhancement of the automatic recognition memory component when CCK is applied before encoding (and thus present during encoding and retrieval)-complements earlier results indicating that CCK decreases controlled, recollection-based recognition memory when applied during consolidation. The possible neuronal systems and processes mediating these effects are discussed.

Acute alcohol effects on repetition priming and word recognition memory with equivalent memory cues

Acute alcohol intoxication effects on memory were examined using a recollection-based word recognition memory task and a repetition priming task of memory for the same information without explicit reference to the study context. Memory cues were equivalent across tasks; encoding was manipulated by varying the frequency of occurrence (FOC) of words in the study lists. Twenty-two female and male social drinkers (age 21–24 years) completed equivalent versions of the memory tasks in two counterbalanced sessions (alcohol challenge, no-alcohol). Alcohol and the FOC manipulation affected recollection-based memory processing, but not repetition priming. Results supported alcohol’s dissociative effects on memory systems.

Recollection-based memory in frontotemporal dementia: implications for theories of long-term memory.

It has been convincingly demonstrated that patients with semantic dementia (the temporal variant of frontotemporal dementia) can show intact recognition memory for pictorial stimuli. As yet, the contribution made by recollective processes to this ability and the status of associated neural regions have not been investigated in the disease. Here, we used both a source monitoring paradigm and an associative memory test to evaluate the ability of patients with semantic dementia to use recollection-based memory processes, and a volumetric MRI technique to assess the extent of atrophy in the hippocampus. Although some patients showed impaired source and associative memory, many performed as well as control participants. Importantly, status of semantic knowledge, as measured by tests of comprehension and production, did not predict recollection-based memory ability. There was no significant positive correlation between recollection and volume of the hippocampus; instead, both source discrimination and associative memory correlated highly with performance on a battery of frontal lobe tests. Consistent with the view that damage to the prefrontal cortex might influence recollection performance, patients with the frontal variant of frontotemporal dementia, with atrophy largely confined to the frontal lobes, all performed at floor level on source discrimination. These results provide further compelling evidence in favour of the multiple input model of long-term memory and highlight the role of frontal lobe systems in recollection-based memory.