Padovani, Tullia; König, Thomas; Brandeis, Daniel; Perrig, Walter (November 2008). Neural activity before stimulus presentation predicts the success of stimulus retrieval. Human Cognitive Neurophysiology, 2(14).
The brain’s information processing is state dependent. In this context, previous research has
shown that pre-stimulus ERP activity predicts later recollection (subsequent memory effect).
In this experiment, we attempted to systematically manipulate the pre-stimulus state by giving the subjects a) a semantic decision task and b) an emotional decision task and after that testing the incidental encoding of each single item presented in the study phase with a
recognition memory test. We recorded and analyzed 65 channel ERPs in 21 healthy volunteers.
We found a significant interactions of task and later memory performance using a TANOVA in two different intervals preceding the words onset (-800 to -400 ms, -400 to 0 ms). When the cue indicated to execute a semantic decision, ERPs of subsequently remembered and forgotten words differed in an interval from -800 to -400 ms. When the cue indicated to execute a emotional decision ERPs of subsequently remembered and forgotten words differed from -400 to 0 ms. This indicates that the neural networks necessary for a successful incidental encoding depend on the task that the subject is preparing. When searching for those networks, Loreta analyses suggested that for the semantic condition, the maximal difference between remembered and forgotten words was in the left middle frontal gyrus that is known to be related to semantic processes. In the emotional condition, the maximal difference was estimated to be in the left middle temporal gyrus. This structure has been related to memory encoding and processing of emotional stimuli. These effects may also reflect latency differences between semantic and emotional preparatory processes important for efficient encoding into episodic memory. This study supports the idea that the formation of lasting memories involves the role of neural activity that both precedes and follows the presentation of a stimulus event.
Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item (Abstract) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Psychological and Behavioral Health |
UniBE Contributor: |
Padovani, Tullia, König, Thomas, Perrig, Walter |
Subjects: |
100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health |
ISSN: |
2459-5342 |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Dr. Tullia Padovani |
Date Deposited: |
17 Aug 2016 08:04 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:57 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/85951 |
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