Decoding the tradeoff between encoding and retrieval to predict memory for overlapping events

By Nicole M. Long, Brice A. Kuhl. 2018

38 citations recorded by the source corpus.

When new events overlap with past events, there is a natural tradeoff between encoding the new event and retrieving the past event. Given the ubiquity of overlap among memories, this tradeoff between memory encoding and retrieval is of central importance to computational models of episodic memory (O’Reilly & McClelland, 1994; Hasselmo, 2005). However, prior studies have not directly linked neural markers of encoding/retrieval tradeoffs to behavioral measures of how overlapping events are remembered. Here, by decoding patterns of scalp electroencephalography (EEG) from male and female human subjects, we show that tradeoffs between encoding and retrieval states are reflected in distributed patterns of neural activity and, critically, these neural tradeoffs predict how overlapping events will later be remembered. Namely, new events that overlapped with past events were more likely to be subsequently remembered if neural patterns were biased toward a memory encoding state–or, conversely, away from a retrieval state. Additionally, we show that neural markers of encoding vs. retrieval states are surprisingly independent from previously-described EEG predictors of subsequent memory. Instead, we demonstrate that previously-described EEG predictors of subsequent memory are better explained by task engagement than by memory encoding, per se. Collectively, our findings provide important insight into how the memory system balances memory encoding and retrieval states and, more generally, into the neural mechanisms that support successful memory formation.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience

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In Cognitive Neuroscience

1. Min Lin
2. Tinne Tuytelaars
3. Massimo Caccia
4. Laurent Charlin
5. Rahaf Aljundi
6. Lucas Caccia

Citations in the corpus

• Online Continual Learning with Maximally Interfered Retrieval (2019, positive): “f the model. This approach also takes some motivation from the brain where replay of previous memories is hypothesized to be present [27, 33], but likely not random. For example it is hypothesized in [15, 25] similar mechanisms might occur to accomodate recent events while preserving old memories. W”
• Dynamic internal states shape memory retrieval. (2019, unknown): “Such trade-offs support the notion that encoding and retrieval may operate in distinct states in the hippocampus (see Section 4), as well as across larger cortical networks (Huijbers et al., 2013; Long and Kuhl, 2019).”