Department of Psychology, McGill University, Canada.
Department of Psychology, McGill University, Canada.
Neuroimage. 2019 Oct 1;199:534-544. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.077. Epub 2019 May 30.
When an autobiographical memory is retrieved, the underlying memory representation is constructed by flexibly activating a broad neural network. As such, the content used to reconstruct a memory can bias activity within this neural network. Here, we tested the hypothesis that focusing on the conceptual and contextual aspects of a memory to construct a memory representation will recruit distinct neural subsystems. To test this hypothesis, we measured neural activity as participants retrieved memories under retrieval orientations that biased remembering towards these elements of a past autobiographical experience. In an MRI scanner, participants first retrieved autobiographical memories and then were re-oriented towards the conceptual or contextual elements of that memory. They then used this re-oriented content (conceptual or contextual elements) to access and elaborate upon a new autobiographical memory. Confirming our hypothesis, we found a neural dissociation between these retrieval orientation conditions that aligned with established models of memory. We also found evidence that this neural dissociation was most prominent when the re-oriented mnemonic content was used to access a new memory. Altogether, the reported results provide critical insight into how and when retrieval orientations alter neural support for autobiographical memory retrieval and inform on the neural organization of autobiographical knowledge.
当自传体记忆被检索时，潜在的记忆表征是通过灵活地激活一个广泛的神经网络来构建的。因此，用于重建记忆的内容可以使这个神经网络内的活动产生偏差。在这里，我们测试了这样一个假设，即关注记忆的概念和上下文方面来构建记忆表征将招募不同的神经子系统。为了检验这一假设，我们在参与者检索记忆时测量了他们的神经活动，这些记忆的检索方向偏向于过去自传体经历的这些元素。在 MRI 扫描仪中，参与者首先检索自传体记忆，然后重新定向到该记忆的概念或上下文元素。然后，他们使用这种重新定向的内容（概念或上下文元素）来访问和详细说明一个新的自传体记忆。我们的假设得到了证实，我们在这些检索方向条件之间发现了一个与记忆的既定模型一致的神经分离。我们还发现，当重新定向的记忆内容被用于访问新的记忆时，这种神经分离最为明显。总的来说，报告的结果提供了关于检索方向如何以及何时改变自传体记忆检索的神经支持的关键见解，并为自传体知识的神经组织提供了信息。
