Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of MRI, East China Normal University Shanghai, China.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Mar 5;9:109. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00109. eCollection 2015.
Some superior memorists demonstrated exceptional memory for reciting a large body of information. The underlying neural correlates, however, are seldom addressed. C.L., the current holder of Guinness World Record for reciting 67,890 digits in π, participated in this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Thirteen participants without any mnemonics training were included as controls. Our previous studies suggested that C.L. used a digit-image mnemonic in studying and recalling lists of digits, namely associating 2-digit groups of "00" to "99" with images and generating vivid stories out of them (Hu et al., 2009). Thus, 2-digit condition was included, with 1-digit numbers and letters as control conditions. We hypothesized that 2-digit condition in C.L. should elicit the strongest activity in the brain regions which are associated with his mnemonic. Functional MRI results revealed that bilateral frontal poles (FPs, BA10), left superior parietal lobule (SPL), left premotor cortex (PMC), and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), were more engaged in both the study and recall phase of 2-digit condition for C.L. relative to controls. Moreover, the left middle/inferior frontal gyri (M/IFG) and intraparietal sulci (IPS) were less engaged in the study phase of 2-digit condition for C.L. (vs. controls). These results suggested that C.L. relied more on brain regions that are associated with episodic memory other than verbal rehearsal while he used his mnemonic strategies. This study supported theoretical accounts of restructured cognitive mechanisms for the acquisition of superior memory performance.
一些优秀的记忆者表现出非凡的记忆能力，可以背诵大量信息。然而，很少有人研究其潜在的神经相关性。当前的吉尼斯世界纪录背诵圆周率数字纪录保持者 C.L. 参与了这项功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 研究。还有 13 名没有记忆术训练的参与者作为对照组。我们之前的研究表明，C.L. 在学习和回忆数字列表时使用了数字-图像记忆术，即将“00”到“99”的两位数组与图像相关联，并从中生成生动的故事（Hu 等人，2009）。因此，包括了两位数条件，1 位数和字母作为控制条件。我们假设在 C.L. 的两位数条件下，大脑中与他的记忆术相关的区域会产生最强的活动。功能磁共振成像结果显示，双侧额极（FPs，BA10）、左顶叶上回（SPL）、左运动前区（PMC）和左背外侧前额叶（DLPFC）在 C.L. 的两位数条件下的学习和回忆阶段比对照组更活跃。此外，C.L. 的左中/下回（M/IFG）和顶内沟（IPS）在学习阶段的活动较少（与对照组相比）。这些结果表明，C.L. 在使用记忆术策略时，更多地依赖于与情景记忆相关的大脑区域，而不是口头复述。这项研究支持了关于认知机制重构的理论观点，以获得优异的记忆表现。
