Memory retrieval

The present experiments examined the encoding and retrieval conditions in an item-method-directed forget (IMDF) study that included a novel control condition. In the IMDF condition, half of the items were followed by a remember cue whereas the other half were followed by a forget cue. In a remember-both control condition, half of the items were followed by an item identifier called Set A; whereas the other half of the items were followed by a Set B identifier. At the test, items were recalled as a function of the instruction cue or the set identifier...

Words, unlike images, are symbolic representations. The associative details inherent within a word's meaning and the visual imagery it generates, are inextricably connected to the way words are processed and represented. It is well recognised that the hippocampus associatively binds components of a memory to form a lasting representation, and here we show that the hippocampus is especially sensitive to abstract word processing. Using fMRI during recognition, we found that the increased abstractness of words produced increased hippocampal activation regardless of memory outcome...

Tamsulosin is an α1 -adrenoceptor antagonist used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. This drug exhibits high affinity for α1A - and α1D -adrenoceptor subtypes, which are also expressed in the brain. While dementia symptoms have been reported after administration of tamsulosin in humans, studies on its effects on the rodent brain are still rare. The present study investigated the effects of tamsulosin (and biperiden, an amnesic drug) on cognitive performance in the object recognition task (ORT)...

Recollecting an autobiographical memory requires a cue to initiate processes related to accessing and then elaborating on a past personal experience. Prior work has shown that the familiarity of a cue can influence the autobiographical memory retrieval process. Extending this work, we tested how familiarity accrued from cumulative lifetime exposures associated with the cue-as well as associated semantic knowledge-can affect how we access and remember autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, we measured reaction times to access and report memories in response to cue words...

While the classic Posner cuing paradigm has been used to study cuing of a single endogenous shift of attention, we present a new multiple cue paradigm to study the competition between multiple endogenous shifts of attention. The new paradigm enables us to manipulate the number of competing attention shifts and their relative importance. In three experiments, we demonstrate that the process of selecting one among other relevant attention shifts is governed by limited capacity and biased competition. We show that the probability of performing the most optimal attention shift is influenced by the total number of attention shifts competing for execution and that reward is a determining factor for the selection between attention shifts...

BACKGROUND: Working memory (WM) is one of the most influential cognitive functions in encoding, registering, and retrieving information. It influences the learning process in children. Its role becomes essential, especially in a child with a learning disability (LD). Researchers worldwide are giving much prominence to WM, especially in devising cognitive retraining strategies for better cognitive functioning and academic attainment in these children. This current study aims to explore globally used instruments to measure this construct and review effective WM training models in the cognitive rehabilitation of children with LD...

The angular gyrus (AG) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) demonstrate extensive structural and functional connectivity with the hippocampus and other core recollection network regions. Consequently, recent studies have explored neuromodulation targeting these and other regions as a potential strategy for restoring function in memory disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease. However, determining the optimal approach for neuromodulatory devices requires understanding how parameters like selected stimulation site, cognitive state during modulation, and stimulation duration influence the effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on electrophysiological features relevant to episodic memory...

Upon retrieval, memories can become susceptible to meaningful events, such as stress. Post-retrieval memory changes may be attributed to an alteration of the original memory trace during reactivation-dependent reconsolidation or, alternatively, to the modification of retrieval-related memory traces that impact future remembering. Hence, how post-retrieval memory changes emerge in the human brain is unknown. In a 3-day functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we show that post-retrieval stress impairs subsequent memory depending on the strength of neural reinstatement of the original memory trace during reactivation, driven by the hippocampus and its cross-talk with neocortical representation areas...

RATIONALE: Therapeutic approaches to mitigating traumatic memories have often faced resistance. Exploring safe reconsolidation blockers, drugs capable of reducing the emotional valence of the memory upon brief retrieval and reactivation, emerges as a promising pharmacological strategy. Towards this objective, preclinical investigations should focus on aversive memories resulting in maladaptive outcomes and consider sex-related differences to enhance their translatability. OBJECTIVES: After selecting a relatively high training magnitude leading to the formation of a more intense and generalized fear memory in adult female and male rats, we investigated whether two clinically approved drugs disrupting its reconsolidation remain effective...

Time series forecasting across different domains has received massive attention as it eases intelligent decision-making activities. Recurrent neural networks and various deep learning algorithms have been applied to modeling and forecasting multivariate time series data. Due to intricate non-linear patterns and significant variations in the randomness of characteristics across various categories of real-world time series data, achieving effectiveness and robustness simultaneously poses a considerable challenge for specific deep-learning models...

Imagining the future, like recalling the past, relies on the ability to retrieve and imagine a spatial context. Research suggests that eye movements support this process by reactivating spatial contextual details from memory, a process termed gaze reinstatement. While gaze reinstatement has been linked to successful memory retrieval, it remains unclear whether it supports the related process of future simulation. In the present study, we recorded both eye movements and audio while participants described familiar locations from memory and subsequently imagined future events occurring in those locations while either freely moving their eyes or maintaining central fixation...

OBJECTIVE: According to the World Alzheimer's Disease Report in 2015,there were 9.9 million new cases of dementia in the world every year. At present, the number of patients suffering from dementia in China has exceeded 8 million, and it may exceed 26 million by 2040.Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to the pathological state of pre-dementia with the manifestation of the progressive decline of memory or other cognitive functions but without decline of activities of daily life. It is particularly important to prevent or prolong the development of MCI into dementia...

Hippocampal cross-frequency theta-gamma coupling (TGC) is a basic mechanism for information processing, retrieval, and consolidation of long-term and working memory. While the role of entorhinal afferents in the modulation of hippocampal TGC is widely accepted, the influence of other main input to the hippocampus, from the medial septal area (MSA, the pacemaker of the hippocampal theta rhythm) is poorly understood. Optogenetics allows us to explore how different neuronal populations of septohippocampal circuits control neuronal oscillations in vivo...

Contemporary neurocognitive frameworks propose that conceptual and perceptual content of autobiographical memories-personal past experiences-are processed by dissociable neural systems. Other work has proposed a central role of the anterior hippocampus in initially constructing autobiographical memories, regardless of the content. Here, we report on an fMRI study that utilized a repeated retrieval paradigm to test these ideas. In a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, participants retrieved autobiographical memories at three timepoints...

BACKGROUND: Cues present during a traumatic event may result in persistent fear responses. These responses can be attenuated through extinction learning, a core component of exposure therapy. Exposure/extinction is effective for some people, but not all. We recently demonstrated that carbon dioxide (CO2 ) reactivity predicts fear extinction memory and orexin activation and that orexin activation predicts fear extinction memory, which suggests that a CO2 challenge may enable identification of whether an individual is a good candidate for an extinction-based approach...

Word finding difficulty is a frequent complaint in older age and disease states, but treatment options are lacking for such verbal retrieval deficits. Better understanding of the neurophysiological and neuroanatomical basis of verbal retrieval function may inform effective interventions. In this article, we review the current evidence of a neural retrieval circuit central to verbal production, including words and semantic memory, that involves the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), striatum (particularly caudate nucleus), and thalamus...

Growing evidence indicates a critical role of astrocytes in learning and memory. However, little is known about the role of basolateral amygdala complex (BLA-C) astrocytes in contextual fear conditioning (CFC), a paradigm relevant to understand and generate treatments for fear- and anxiety-related disorders. To get insights on the involvement of BLA-C astrocytes in fear memory, fluorocitrate (FLC), a reversible astroglial metabolic inhibitor, was applied at critical moments of the memory processing in order to target the acquisition, consolidation, retrieval and reconsolidation process of the fear memory...

Rac1 is a key regulator of the cytoskeleton and neuronal plasticity, and is known to play a critical role in psychological and cognitive brain disorders. To elucidate the engram specific Rac1 signaling in fear memory, a doxycycline (Dox)-dependent robust activity marking (RAM) system was used to label dorsal dentate gyrus (DG) engram cells in mice during contextual fear conditioning. Rac1 mRNA and protein levels in DG engram cells was peaked at 24 h (day 1) after fear conditioning and were more abundant in the fear engram cells than in the non-engram cells...

(1) Background: Humor stands out as the most dynamic and innovative aspect of human intelligence. Drawing on the cognitive parallels between humor and creativity, this study explored the EEG alpha frequency band activity patterns during humor generation by comparing the process of generating humorous and creative ideas. (2) Methods: Thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to either the humor generation group or the creative generation group, and the dependent variable was the neural oscillation in both low-frequency and high-frequency alpha during the early, middle, and late stages of both humor and creative generation...

In their discussion paper Steinkrauss and Slotnick argue against a role for the hippocampus in unconscious memory formation and retrieval. Unfortunately, they omitted highly relevant evidence that supports a role for the hippocampus in unconscious memory. They criticize four articles, two from our laboratory, pointing out long-known confounds like residual consciousness. We uncover these reproaches as untrue allegations. In our own interest, we prevented conscious mnemonic processing because reliable unconscious memory effects manifest only if consciousness is completely excluded, and because we always knew that residual consciousness would be our Achilles heel for the proponents of the 'explicit memory dogma...