Memory Recollection Research Articles

Perceived gaze direction affects recollection processes in recognition of concrete and abstract words: electrophysiological evidence.

Studies have revealed that memory performance can be affected by perceived gaze direction. However, it remains unclear whether direct gaze promotes or hinders word memory, and the effect of gaze direction on memory of words with different concreteness requires investigation. In the study phase, concrete and abstract words were presented on direct- or averted-gaze faces, and participants were instructed to judge gaze direction and memorize words. In the test phase, participants were asked to discriminate whether a word was old or new. Electroencephalogram recordings were taken in both phases. Behavioral and time-frequency results verified the direct-gaze memory advantage, showing that memory performance was better in the direct-gaze condition than the averted-gaze condition for both concrete and abstract words. Event-related potential results showed that in both direct- and averted-gaze conditions, the early old/new effects (FN400) associated with familiarity were only elicited for concrete words but not abstract words. The late old/new effects (LPC) associated with recollection were elicited in all conditions. More importantly, concrete words elicited greater LPC than abstract words in the direct-gaze condition, whereas there was no such significant LPC difference in the averted-gaze condition. Topographic map analysis found that neural generators between concrete and abstract words differed in the direct-gaze condition but not in the averted-gaze condition. The study supports the hypothesis that direct-gaze promotes memory performance. Furthermore, it is mainly in memory recollection that gaze direction affects words with different concreteness.

Neural Networks Implicated in Autobiographical Memory Training.

Training of autobiographical memory has been proposed as an intervention to improve cognitive function. The neural substrates for such improvements are poorly understood. Several brain areas have been previously linked to autobiographical recollection, including structures in the default mode network (DMN) and the sensorimotor network. Here, we tested the hypothesis that changes in connectivity within different neural networks support distinct aspects of memory improvement in response to training on a group of 59 human subjects. We found that memory training using olfactory cues increases resting-state intranetwork DMN connectivity, and this associates with improved recollection of cue-specific memories. On the contrary, training decreased resting-state connectivity within the sensorimotor network, a decrease that correlated with improved ability for voluntary recall. Moreover, preliminary data indicate that only the decrease in sensorimotor connectivity associated with the training-induced decrease in the tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) factor, an immune modulation previously linked to improved cognitive performance. We identified functional and biochemical factors that associate with distinct memory processes improved by autobiographical training. Pathways which connect autobiographical memory with both high-level cognition and somatic physiology are discussed.

Similarity in activity and laterality patterns in the angular gyrus during autobiographical memory retrieval and self-referential processing.

Long-term memory is arguably one of the key cognitive functions. At the neural level, the lateral parietal cortex and the angular gyrus, particularly in the left hemisphere, exhibit strong activations during autobiographical and episodic memory retrieval. In a separate sub-field, left-lateralized activations of the angular gyrus are also found during self-referential processing, defined as higher activity when a trait term is judged by participants as being related to them vs. related to someone else. The question is whether episodic/autobiographical memory retrieval and self-referential processing effects are related. In the present study, thirty participants participated in the fMRI study with two separate experiments: autobiographical memory retrieval (Experiment 1) and self-referential processing (Experiment 2). In a series of analyses, including the most critical spatial correlation analysis between experiments, we found neural similarity between autobiographical memory retrieval and self-referential processing. Given that self-referential processing was identified in a selective way, the most plausible interpretation of our findings is that self-referential processing might partly explain the activation of the left angular gyrus during autobiographical memory retrieval. Our results are in line with the seminal view of Endel Tulving that the sense of self is a fundamental attribute of long-term memory recollection. However, it should be emphasized that: a) our results do not imply that the left angular gyrus is not involved in the retrieval of episodic memory details; and b) given that our experiment included an autobiographical memory task, generalization of our results to the episodic memory laboratory tasks has yet to be tested.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia during biofeedback is linked to persistent improvements in attention, short-term memory, and positive self-referential episodic memory.

BackgroundHeart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, an intervention based on the voluntary self-regulation of autonomic parameters, has been shown to affect prefrontal brain functioning and improve executive functions. The interest in using HRV biofeedback as cognitive training is typically ascribed to parasympathetic activation and optimized physiological functioning deriving from increased cardiac vagal control. However, the persistence of cognitive effects is poorly studied and their association with biofeedback-evoked autonomic changes has not yet been explored. In addition, no study has so far investigated the influence of HRV biofeedback in adults on long-term episodic memory, which is particularly concerned with self-referential encoding processing.MethodsIn the present study, a novel training system was developed integrating HRV and respiratory biofeedback into an immersive virtual reality environment to enhance training efficacy. Twenty-two young healthy adults were subjected to a blinded randomized placebo-controlled experiment, including six self-regulation training sessions, to evaluate the effect of biofeedback on autonomic and cognitive changes. Cardiac vagal control was assessed before, during, and 5 min after each training session. Executive functions, episodic memory, and the self-referential encoding effect were evaluated 1 week before and after the training program using a set of validated tasks.ResultsLinear mixed-effects models showed that HRV biofeedback greatly stimulated respiratory sinus arrhythmia during and after training. Moreover, it improved the attentional capabilities required for the identification and discrimination of stimuli ( = 0.17), auditory short-term memory ( = 0.23), and self-referential episodic memory recollection of positive stimuli ( = 0.23). Episodic memory outcomes indicated that HRV biofeedback reinforced positive self-reference encoding processing. Cognitive changes were strongly dependent on the level of respiratory sinus arrhythmia evoked during self-regulation training.ConclusionThe present study provides evidence that biofeedback moderates respiration-related cardiac vagal control, which in turn mediates improvements in several cognitive processes crucial for everyday functioning including episodic memory, that are maintained beyond the training period. The results highlight the interest in HRV biofeedback as an innovative research tool and medication-free therapeutic approach to affect autonomic and neurocognitive functioning. Finally, a neurocognitive model of biofeedback-supported autonomic self-regulation as a scaffolding for episodic memory is proposed.

Word recognition memory and serum levels of Borna disease virus specific circulating immune complexes in obsessive–compulsive disorder

BackgroundBorna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) is a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus that persistently infects mammals including humans. BoDV-1 worldwide occurring strains display highly conserved genomes with overlapping genetic signatures between those of either human or animal origin. BoDV-1 infection may cause behavioral and cognitive disturbances in animals but has also been found in human major depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the impact of BoDV-1 on memory functions in OCD is unknown.MethodTo evaluate the cognitive impact of BoDV-1 in OCD, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a continuous word recognition paradigm in OCD patients (n = 16) and in healthy controls (n = 12). According to the presence of BoDV-1-specific circulating immune complexes (CIC), they were divided into two groups, namely group H (high) and L (low), n = 8 each. Typically, ERPs to repeated items are characterized by more positive waveforms beginning approximately 250 ms post-stimulus. This “old/new effect” has been shown to be relevant for memory processing. The early old/new effect (ca. 300–500 ms) with a frontal distribution is proposed to be a neural correlate of familiarity-based recognition. The late old/new effect (post-500 ms) is supposed to reflect memory recollection processes.ResultsOCD patients were reported to show a normal early old/new effect and a reduced late old/new effect compared to normal controls. In our study, OCD patients with a high virus load (group H) displayed exactly these effects, while patients with a low virus load (group L) did not differ from healthy controls.ConclusionThese results confirmed that OCD patients had impaired memory recollection processes compared to the normal controls which may to some extent be related to their BoDV-1 infection.

Impaired recollection and initially preserved familiarity in a patient with bilateral fornix transection following third ventricle colloid cyst removal: A two-year follow-up study

Objective Recognition memory is widely accepted as a dual process-based model, namely familiarity and recollection. However, the location of their specific neurobiological substrates remains unclear. Similar to hippocampal damage, fornix damage has been associated with recollection memory but not familiarity memory deficits. To understand the neural basis of recognition memory, determining the importance of the fornix and its hippocampal connections is essential. Methods Recognition memory was examined in a 45-year-old male who underwent a complete bilateral fornix section following the removal of a third ventricle colloid cyst. The application of familiarity and recollection for recognition memory decisions was investigated via an immediate and delayed associative recognition test and an immediate and delayed forced-choice task in the patient and a control group (N = 15) over a two-year follow-up period. Complete demographic, neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric, and neuroradiological characterizations of this patient were performed. Results Persistent immediate and delayed verbal recollection memory deficits were observed in the patient. Moreover, delayed familiarity-based recognition memory declined gradually over the follow-up period, immediate familiarity-based recognition memory was unaffected, and reduced non-verbal memory improved. Conclusion The present findings support models that the extended hippocampal system, including the fornices, does not appear to play a role in familiarity memory but is particularly important for recollection memory. Moreover, our study suggests that bilateral fornix transection may be associated with relatively functional recovery of non-verbal memory.

Development of self-referential effect on memory recollection.

Information learned in relation to oneself is typically better remembered, termed the self-reference effect (SRE). This study aimed to elucidate the developmental trajectory of the SRE in recollection and source memory from mid-childhood to young adulthood. In 2018-2019 in Baltimore, Maryland, 136 seven- to thirty-year-olds (77 female; approximately 80% White, 15% Asian American, 5% Black) viewed objects on one of two backgrounds and answered a self-referential or semantic question for each. A recognition test probed memory for objects and source details (inherent: question type; peripheral: background image). SRE increased with age for detailed recollection (r= .189), but not familiarity, and extended to inherent source memory. This suggests that self-referencing promotes richer memory in children and develops into young adulthood.

Stochastic Resonance Governs Memory Consolidation Accuracy in a Neural Network Model.

The formation and recollection of memories is a multi-step neural process subject to errors. We propose a computational model of memory nodes receiving input from a colored tic-tac-toe board. We report memory errors during consolidation and reconsolidation when different noise levels are introduced into the model. The model is based on Hebbian plasticity and attempts to store the color and position of an X or O from the board. Memory nodes simulating neurons use an integrate-and-fire model to represent the correct or incorrect storage of the board information by scaling synaptic weights. We explored how baseline firing rate, which we considered analogous to noise in storing memory, impacted the creation of correct and incorrect memories. We found that a higher firing rate was associated with fewer accurate memories. Interestingly, the ideal amount of noise for correct memory storage was nonzero. This phenomenon is known as stochastic resonance, wherein random noise enhances processing. We also examined how many times our model could reactivate a memory before making an error. We found an exponentially decaying response, with a low firing rate yielding more stable memories. Even though our model incorporates only two memory nodes, it provides a basis for examining the consolidation and retrieval of memory storage based on the unique visual input of a tic-tac-toe board. Further work may incorporate different inputs, more nodes, and increased network complexity. Clinical Relevance- This model enables investigation of how the human cortex may utilize and exploit noise during information processing.

Korsakoff Syndrome: A Chronic Nutritional Deficiency Neuropsychiatric condition

In this review we have focused on Korsakoff syndrome, which is an aftermath of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE). Wernicke-Encephalopathy is neuropathologically marked by thiamine or vitamin B1 deficiency, typically induced by excessive alcohol use over an extended period of time in alcoholic patients, while in Nonalcoholic patients, it may be due to impaired utilization or accelerated usage of thiamine. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) affects the brain region such as the mammillary bodies, periaqueductal and periventricular grey matter, colliculi bodies, and thalamus. The classic triads of WE are ophthalmoplegia, Nystagmus, and ataxia. The brain is examined using MRI and shows damage to the nuclei or memory transit- papez circuit that connects mamillary bodies to the anterior thalamus using the mammillothalamic tract responsible for the recollective memory in the diencephalon. Patients can be treated by parenteral thiamine administration and by abstinence of alcohol within their lifestyle. Keywords: Korsakoff Syndrome, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, Alzheimer's, memory-loss Wernicke encephalopathy, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

The Mammillary Bodies: A Review of Causes of Injury in Infants and Children.

Despite their small size, the mammillary bodies play an important role in supporting recollective memory. However, they have typically been overlooked when assessing neurologic conditions that present with memory impairment. While there is increasing evidence of mammillary body involvement in a wide range of neurologic disorders in adults, very little attention has been given to infants and children. Literature searches of PubMed and EMBASE were performed to identify articles that describe mammillary body pathology on brain MR imaging in children. Mammillary body pathology is present in the pediatric population in several conditions, indicated by signal change and/or atrophy on MR imaging. The main causes of mammillary body pathology are thiamine deficiency, hypoxia-ischemia, direct damage due to masses or hydrocephalus, or deafferentation resulting from pathology within the wider Papez circuit. Optimizing scanning protocols and assessing mammillary body status as a standard procedure are critical, given their role in memory processes.

Exhibiting Imprisoned Memories: The Construction of Site-specific Narrations in the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park, Taiwan

In Chiang Kai-shek’s early governance of Taiwan, many political events occurred which violated human rights. During this ‘White Terror’ era, military commanders were authorized with powers to restrict the islanders’ freedom, as well as prohibit public assemblies. Taiwanese who acted against the martial law would be committing offences of public order, or even offences of treason. The Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park was once the place where such political victims were held in custody and imprisoned. Until the lift of martial law, these inhuman events were not revealed to the public, and the two courts, the Ren-Ai Building (仁愛樓, the detention centers), barracks and other public buildings on the site recently have been transformed into parts of the National Human Rights Museum, Taiwan. As many political persecutions occurred and were implemented in the two courts and previous jails of the detention centers, the transformation of the site into a memorial park suggests the site-specificity of memory recollection through exhibiting the built environments, historical archives, and victims’ leftovers. This paper intends to discuss the construction of spatial narrations and the means of patching up fragmented memories of these political events, as well as examining the exhibition settings for stimulating visitors’ perceptions of the victims’ sufferings. Finally, as young generations in Taiwan didn’t experience such political oppressions, the paper would ask what sort of immersive channels could be utilized to recall the imprisoned memories and to forge some sufferers’ traumatic experiences for visitors.

Automatic and effortful control of interference in working memory can be distinguished by unique behavioral and functional brain representations

Goal-irrelevant information in working memory (WM) may enter the focus of attention (FOA) during a task and cause proactive interference (PI). In the current study we used fMRI to test several hypotheses concerning the boundary conditions of PI in WM using a modified verbal 2-back task. Temporal distance between item and lure presentation was manipulated to evaluate potential differences among hypothesized states of FOA, short-term memory and long-term memory. PI was present for the most proximal 3-back lures but dissipated with lure distance along with increased activation in brain regions critical for memory recollection, such as right prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and hippocampus. Reduced PI and less IFG activation were also observed after repeated item presentation, supporting the notion that a rehearsed encoding of item-context information reduces the need for interference control. Moreover, a trial-by-trial approach revealed activity in ACC, insula, IFG, and parietal cortex with increasing lure trial interference regardless of distance. The current results are first evidence for an observable transition of cognitive control, to include MTL regions involved in recalling task-relevant information from outside the FOA when resolving PI in WM.

Negativity in delayed affective recall is related to the borderline personality trait

The present study assessed selected factors that contribute to the recollection of emotional memories over time. Participants with high-trait borderline personality disorder (BPD) watched a randomly selected positive, negative, or neutral character in a video clip (stimulus) and were asked to recall the content immediately, then 2, 4, and 6 days later. In the final sample (N = 558, average age: 33 years, 65% female), general impression had the strongest effect on recall after accounting for the effect of current mood, extremity of the responses, and level of BPD, regardless of stimulus valence. The level of BPD had an effect only when negative evaluative wording (e.g., “guilty”) was used. In conclusion, people with high-trait BPD tend to remember negative stimuli more negatively over time (unlike neutral or positive stimuli), and this effect is mostly related to general impression.

Enhanced declarative memory in long-term mindfulness practitioners.

Mindfulness meditation (MM) practice is considered to benefit physical and mental health. In particular, several studies have shown a beneficial effect of MM practice on memory performance. However, it is still not clear how long-term training affects long-term declarative memory. In this study we aimed to examine whether long-term MM training impacts declarative memory formation for diverse memoranda types, as well as the role of trait mindfulness, and the possible mediating role of anxiety. We examined long-term memory performance in 23 experienced MM practitioners and 22 meditation-naïve age-matched individuals, by administering a variety of declarative memory tests, ranging from item recognition to narrative and autobiographical memory recollection and future projection. The participants also filled the Five Facet MindfulnessQuestionnaire (FFMQ) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Compared to the control group, long-term MM practitioners exhibited heightened memory performance for the picture recognition test and experienced enhanced vividness during autobiographic memory retrieval and future simulations. We also report a significant trait mindfulness and memory performance correlation, stemming exclusively from the Mm group. Our findings extend previous reports of the beneficial effect of a short-term MM training on memory performance, by showing the beneficial effect of long-term training on declarative memory. We also provide initial evidence that trait mindfulness is positively correlated with declarative memory performance, as a function of MM practice, and discuss these findings in light of the role of self-mode and cognitive diffusion, as well as attention and emotion.

Determinants of residential mobility: an adaptive retrospective survey method

ABSTRACT This study introduces a survey instrument to collect retrospective life-course events, focusing on residential relocation, and it utilizes the survey to evaluate determinants of residential mobility. The survey consists of seven modules collecting information about household structure and household demographics, latest residential relocation, current and previous home, employment, education, vehicle ownership, and travel behavior. The time window of the life-course calendar in the survey is customized according to the latest residential relocation as an anchor point to assist with memory recollection and balance the required input from participants. The survey is used to collect data from a sample of 514 respondents in Sydney, Australia, and another sample of 404 respondents in Chicago, Illinois, in the US. The Cox proportional hazard model is used to analyze residential mobility. The results show primary school commencement is a salient determinant of residential relocation, but its impact is significantly higher in Chicago compared to Sydney.

LA POÉTIQUE DE LA TOPOGRAPHIE DANS VESTIAIRE DE L’ENFANCE DE PATRICK MODIANO

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the poetic function of the topographical landscape based on recollection of memories. In exile, the character-narrator Jimmy Sarano tries, through a specific narrative technique, to reveal feelings and sensations deep in his memory. Spatiality, characterised by a more or less specific imprint, keeps the reader in a warp of thoughts and memories difficult to understand. Therefore, our study represents an in-depth analysis of the spatial representation of topography linked to the existential representation the characters.

Mapping of Language-and-Memory Networks in Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy by Using the GE2REC Protocol.

Preoperative mapping of language and declarative memory functions in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients is essential since they frequently encounter deterioration of these functions and show variable degrees of cerebral reorganization. Due to growing evidence on language and declarative memory interdependence at a neural and neuropsychological level, we propose the GE2REC protocol for interactive language-and-memory network (LMN) mapping. GE2REC consists of three inter-related tasks, sentence generation with implicit encoding (GE) and two recollection (2REC) memory tasks: recognition and recall. This protocol has previously been validated in healthy participants, and in this study, we showed that it also maps the LMN in the left TLE (N = 18). Compared to healthy controls (N = 19), left TLE (LTLE) showed widespread inter- and intra-hemispheric reorganization of the LMN through reduced activity of regions engaged in the integration and the coordination of this meta-network. We also illustrated how this protocol could be implemented in clinical practice individually by presenting two case studies of LTLE patients who underwent efficient surgery and became seizure-free but showed different cognitive outcomes. This protocol can be advantageous for clinical practice because it (a) is short and easy to perform; (b) allows brain mapping of essential cognitive functions, even at an individual level; (c) engages language-and-memory interaction allowing to evaluate the integrative processes within the LMN; (d) provides a more comprehensive assessment by including both verbal and visual modalities, as well as various language and memory processes. Based on the available postsurgical data, we presented preliminary results obtained with this protocol in LTLE patients that could potentially inform the clinical practice. This implies the necessity to further validate the potential of GE2REC for neurosurgical planning, along with two directions, guiding resection and describing LMN neuroplasticity at an individual level.

Stimulation of distinct parietal locations differentiates frontal versus hippocampal network involvement in memory formation.

Adjacent regions of parietal cortex are thought to affiliate with distinct large-scale networks and thereby make different contributions to memory formation. We directly tested this putative functional segregation within parietal cortex by perturbing activity of anterior versus posterior parietal areas. We applied noninvasive theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation to these locations immediately before a semantic encoding task, and subsequently tested recollection memory. Consistent with previous findings, fMRI activity in left inferior frontal gyrus during semantic encoding correlated with subsequent high memory accuracy and strong subjective recollection. Stimulation of the posterior parietal cortex decoupled its network - the hippocampal-cortical network - from left inferior frontal gyrus. Furthermore, posterior parietal stimulation reduced highly accurate subjective recollection. Critically, both of these changes occurred relative to stimulation of the anterior parietal cortex. Stimulating anterior versus posterior parietal cortex therefore differentiated hippocampal network involvement in episodic memory. This provides direct evidence that distinct territories within close proximity of each other in parietal cortex make functionally distinct contributions to memory formation. Further, noninvasive stimulation has the spatial resolution required to differentially modulate the interaction of these adjacent parietal locations with distributed large-scale brain networks.

Memory, innocence and nostalgia: other versions of African childhood in two African texts

There are a number of memoirs/autobiographies and biographies by African writers on their childhoods in Africa. However, many of these texts tend to focus mostly on the child protagonist�s experiences of colonialism, slavery, war, death and deprivation. This article moves away from these narratives of deprivation and trauma, focusing on other versions of African childhoods where the child lives a carefree life devoid of danger and scarcity of resources. Using Camara Laye�s The Dark Child and Wole Soyinka�s Ak�: The Years of Childhood and doing a textual analysis of the content, themes and characters, this article argues that these texts can be read as recollections of nostalgia and memories of a carefree time in the life of two African children, a time that the narrators reminisce upon through the act of retelling in order to revisit the joys and innocence of those days.

Memory Rewriting as a Method of Inquiry: When Returning Becomes Collective Healing

Writing is collective healing to build a community. We, five Vietnamese bodies, enquire, how can individual memories be collective healing to rewrite a better future of education? We borrow Nhat Hanh’s philosophy to touch on our suffering to heal and Barad’s returning as a multiplicity of processes for reconnecting with the pastpresentfuture. We use the recollection of individual memories to share critical incidents of past experiences to build a collective community for healing purposes. We have demonstrated our deep commitment to creating a resilient system in retelling stories and rewriting for hope for educational change through this process.