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Purpose: Free recall tasks target cognitive and linguistic processes such as episodic memory, lexical access, and retrieval. Consequently, the free recall paradigm is suitable for assessing memory deterioration caused by aging, which can be influenced by stimulus presentation modality. Hence, the present study aimed to determine if aging has an effect on visual and auditory recall abilities. Materials and Methods: Twenty young adults (mean age: 25.4 ± 0.99) and older adults (mean age: 63.3 ± 3.51) participated in the study. Participants performed a free recall task under two conditions - related and unrelated and two modalities - visual and auditory where they were instructed to recall as many items as possible with no specific order and time limit. Results: Free recall performance was calculated as the mean number of correctly recalled items. Although younger participants recalled a higher number of items, the performance across conditions and modality was variable. Conclusions: The findings of the present study revealed an age-related decline in the efficiency of episodic memory, which is crucial to remember recent events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructive episodic retrieval processes play an adaptive role in supporting divergent thinking (i.e., creatively combining diverse bits of information) and means-end problem solving (i.e., generating steps to solve a social problem). However, the constructive nature of episodic memory that supports these adaptive functions also leads to memory error. In three experiments we aimed to identify a direct link between divergent thinking and means-end problem solving – as assessed in the Alternative Uses Task (AUT) and Means-End Problem Solving (MEPS) task – with the generation of false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. In Experiment 1, we replicated prior findings where false memory was positively correlated with performance on the AUT, and also showed for the first time that increased performance in the MEPS task is associated with increased false recall. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that the link between false recall and performance on the MEPS task did not extend to other forms of problem solving, as assessed with the Everyday Descriptions Task (EDT). In Experiment 3, we showed that when the EDT was preceded by the MEPS task in an attempt to influence participants to engage in a similar episodic-problem solving strategy, performance in both tasks was correlated with false memory. These findings provide evidence for a direct link between the adaptive benefits of constructive episodic processes, in the form of enhanced divergent creative thinking and problem solving, and costs, in the form of increased memory error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that memory is involved in making simulations and predictions about the future (i.e., future thinking), but less work has examined how the outcome of those predictions (whether events play out as predicted or expected) subsequently affects episodic memory. In this investigation, we examine whether memory is better for outcomes that are consistent with predictions, or whether memory is enhanced for outcomes that are inconsistent with predictions, after the predicted event occurs. In this experiment, participants learned a core trait associated with social targets (e.g., high in extroversion), before making predictions about behaviors targets would perform. Participants then were shown behaviors the social targets actually performed (i.e., prediction outcome), which was either consistent or inconsistent with predictions. After that, participants completed a memory test (recognition; recall) for the prediction outcomes. For recognition, the results revealed better memory for outcomes that were consistent with traits associated with targets (i.e., trait‐consistent outcomes), compared to outcomes that were inconsistent (i.e., trait‐inconsistent outcomes). Finding a memory advantage for trait‐consistent outcomes suggests that outcomes that are in line with the contents of memory (e.g., what one knows; schemas) are more readily remembered than those that are inconsistent with memory, which may reflect an adaptive memory process. For recall, memory did not differ between trait‐consistent and trait‐inconsistent outcomes. Altogether, the results of this experiment advance understanding of the reciprocal relationship between episodic memory and future thinking and show that outcome of predictions has an influence on subsequent episodic memory, at least as measured by recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodic memory is the type of memory that allows the recollection of personal experiences containing information on what has happened and, also, where and when it happened. Because of its sensitivity to neurodegenerative diseases and the aging of the brain, it is considered a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD). The objective of the present study was to examine episodic memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and ADD. Patients with the diagnosis of early aMCI, late aMCI, and mild ADD were evaluated using the Doors and People tool which consists of four subtests examining different aspects of episodic memory. The statistical analysis with receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) showed the discriminant potential and the cutoffs of every subtest. Overall, the evaluation of episodic memory with the Doors and People tool can discriminate with great sensitivity between the different groups of people with AD and, especially, early aMCI, late aMCI, and mild ADD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study set out to examine the influence of AoA on word recall and recognition tasks in 30 Alzheimer's patients and 28 healthy ageing control group. Each participant was presented with 20 words that critically varied on AoA. A subtest of WAIS-R was employed to establish the vocabulary capacity of participants together with the Mini-Mental State Examination. The pattern of results showed that healthy ageing adults outperformed Alzheimer's patients in recall and recognition tasks and that overall early acquired words had an advantage over late acquired words. The results have implications for developing assessment tools and are discussed within the current theories of age of acquisition and the impact of the neurodegenerative loss of memory in Alzheimer's disease on lexicosemantic processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are commonly characterized by diminished episodic memory, the literature in this area is mixed. We address these inconsistent findings by employing multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis to quantify episodic memory differences between individuals with ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. We used meta-regression to evaluate the effects of test modality (e.g., word list, story recall), delay interval (immediate vs. delayed), retrieval demands (recognition vs. recall), and sensory modality (auditory vs. visual) on episodic memory in ASD. A total of 338 effect sizes from 113 empirical articles, including 5,632 unique participants (ASD = 2,777, TD = 2,855), were included. Results show that the memory deficits associated with ASD were larger for recall (g = -0.52, se = 0.04, 95% CrI [-0.60, -0.43]) compared to recognition (g = -0.25, se = 0.05, 95% CrI [-0.35, -0.14]) and differed based on the testing modality. For example, effect sizes were smallest for words (g = -0.28, se = 0.05, 95% CrI [-0.38, -0.18]), pictures (g = -0.38, se = 0.07, 95% CrI [-0.52, -0.24]), and figure reproduction (g = -0.49, se = 0.11, 95% CrI [-0.70, -0.27]). However, effect sizes for sentences (g = -0.59, se = 0.20, 95% CrI [-1.00, -0.21]), stories (Hedges' g = -0.54, se = 0.08, 95% CrI [-0.69, -0.38]) and staged events (g = -0.75, se = 0.10, 95% CrI [-0.95, -0.55]) were much larger. These findings suggest that ASD is associated with a small to medium reduction in scores on episodic memory tests relative to TD controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies suggest that information about past experience, or episodic memory, is divided into discrete units called "events." Yet we can often remember experiences that span multiple events. Events that occur in close succession might simply be linked because of their proximity to one another, but we can also build links between events that occur farther apart in time. Intuitively, some kind of organizing principle should enable temporally distant events to become bridged in memory. We tested the hypothesis that episodic memory exhibits a narrative-level organization, enabling temporally distant events to be better remembered if they form a coherent narrative. Furthermore, we tested whether post-encoding memory consolidation is necessary to integrate temporally distant events. In three experiments, participants learned and subsequently recalled events from fictional stories, in which pairs of temporally distant events involving side characters ("sideplots") either formed one coherent narrative or two unrelated narratives. Across participants, we varied whether recall was assessed immediately after learning, or after a delay: 24 hours, 12 hours between morning and evening ("wake"), or 12 hours between evening and morning ("sleep"). Participants recalled more information about coherent than unrelated narrative events, in most delay conditions, including immediate recall and wake conditions, suggesting that post-encoding consolidation was not necessary to integrate temporally distant events into a larger narrative. Furthermore, post hoc modeling across experiments suggested that narrative coherence facilitated recall over and above any effects of sentence-level semantic similarity. This reliable memory benefit for coherent narrative events supports theoretical accounts which propose that narratives provide a high-level architecture for episodic memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does our environment impact what we will later remember? Early work in real-world environments suggested that having matching encoding/retrieval contexts improves memory. However, some laboratory-based studies have not replicated this advantageous context-dependent memory effect. Using virtual reality methods, we find support for context-dependent memory effects and examine an influence of memory schema and dynamic environments. Participants (N = 240) remembered more objects when in the same virtual environment (context) as during encoding. This traded-off with falsely “recognizing” more similar lures. Experimentally manipulating the virtual objects and environments revealed that a congruent object/environment schema aids recall (but not recognition), though a dynamic background does not. These findings further our understanding of when and how context affects our memory through a naturalistic approach to studying such effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ironically, the presentation of a subset of studied material as retrieval cues at test often impairs recall of the remaining (target) material—an effect known as part-list cuing impairment. Part-list cues are typically provided at the beginning of the recall period, a time when nearly all individuals would be able to recall at least some studied items on their own. Across two experiments, we examined the effects of part-list cuing when student participants could decide on their own when the cues were presented during the recall period. Results showed that participants activated the cues relatively late in the recall period, when recall was already close to asymptote. Critically, such delayed cuing no longer impaired recall performance. The detrimental effect of part-list cuing, as it has been demonstrated numerous times in the memory literature, thus seems to depend on presentating the cue items (too) early in the recall period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collective memory is shared by a group and is part of that group's identity. Memory for political leaders is a prototypical case of collective memory. The present study investigated collective memory for Swiss federal councilors in order to test the trajectory of collective memory across four different generations (i.e., Millennials, Generation X, Baby-Boomers, and Silents) in a collaborative government system. In contrast to a presidential system, Switzerland is governed by seven equal councilors who share power and responsibilities. Thus, the individual member of the government is less important, and the number of councilors is larger compared to a presidential system, which may influence collective memory. The results revealed a recency effect as well as a generation-specific reminiscence effect, but no primacy effect as reported for presidential systems. These results indicate that the contribution of semantic memory and autobiographic memory to the trajectory of collective memory vary across government systems. Specifically, for a collaborative government system, autobiographic memory has a stronger contribution to the trajectory of collective memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activating a previously consolidated memory trace brings it back into a labile state where it must then undergo a re-stabilisation process known as reconsolidation. During this process memories are susceptible to interference and may be updated with new information. In the studies showing this effect in human episodic memory, the reconsolidation process has been triggered primarily using spatial context or prediction error manipulations to reactivate an established memory. However, these studies have produced conflicting results, showing both that spatial context is necessary and sufficient to trigger reconsolidation and that prediction error is necessary and sufficient to trigger the process. We examined this conflict in two experiments, one investigating the role of context cues and another investigating the role of prediction error. In Experiment 1, spatial context triggered a reconsolidation process and prediction error was irrelevant. In Experiment 2, prediction error triggered reconsolidation, and spatial context cues were irrelevant. These findings replicate prior research but add to the puzzle concerning the roles of these two means of triggering reconsolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recalling specific past experiences is critical for most formal social interactions, including when being interviewed for employment, as a witness or defendant in the criminal justice system, or as a patient during a clinical consultation. Such interviews can be difficult for autistic adults under standard open questioning, yet applied research into effective methods to facilitate autistic adults' recall is only recently beginning to emerge. The current study tested the efficacy of different prompting techniques to support autistic adults' recall of specific personal memories; 30 autistic and 30 typically developing adults (intelligence quotients > 85) were asked to recall specific instances from their past, relevant to criminal justice system, healthcare, and employment interviews. Questions comprised 'open questions', 'semantic prompting' (where semantic knowledge was used to prompt specific episodic retrieval) and 'visual–verbal prompting' (a pie-diagram with prompts to recall specific details, for example, who, what, and where). Half the participants received the questions in advance. Consistent with previous research, autistic participants reported memories with reduced specificity. For both groups, visual–verbal prompting support improved specificity and episodic relevance, while semantic prompting also aided recall for employment questions (but not health or criminal justice system). Findings offer new practical insight for interviewers to facilitate communication with typically developing and autistic adults. During many types of interviews (e.g. in employment, with the police, and in healthcare), we need to recall detailed memories of specific events, which can be difficult for autistic people in response to commonly used questions. This is especially because these tend to be open questions (i.e. very broad). Autistic people have disproportionately high rates of physical and mental health conditions, are more likely to interact with police, and are the most underemployed disability group. However, interviewers are often unsure about how to adapt their communication for autistic people. Our research tested whether different types of prompts enabled autistic people to recall specific memories (memories of a single event within one day). Participants were asked about situations relating to witnessing a crime (e.g. at the bank), physical or mental health scenarios and employment interviews (e.g. a time you've met a deadline). We tested the following: Open questions : basic questions only (e.g. 'tell me about a time you went to the cinema'), Semantic prompting : a general prompt (e.g. 'do you enjoy going to the cinema?') before asking for a specific instance ('tell me about a time you went to the cinema?'), Visual–verbal prompting : asking participants to recall when it happened, who was there, the actions that occurred, the setting, and any objects. With visual–verbal prompting, autistic and typically developing participants' memories were more specific and detailed. Semantic prompting was also effective for employment questions. Our study shows that autistic people can recall specific memories when they are appropriately prompted. Visual–verbal prompting may be effective across different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Music is increasingly used to improve cognition in clinical settings. However, it remains unclear whether its use as a mnemonic strategy is effective in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aimed at determining whether a musical mnemonic might mitigate patients' learning of new verbal information and at exploring the effect of factors such as retention delay and emotional valence of the musical excerpt used. Method: 13 patients with AD and 26 healthy comparisons (HC) with a low musical expertise were included. They learned texts about everyday life themes that were either set to familiar instrumental music, which was positively- or negatively-valenced, or spoken only. Immediate and delayed recalls (after 10 min and 24 hours) were measured. Results: Main results showed that (i) HC demonstrated better verbal episodic memory performance than participants with AD; (ii) participants with AD encoded texts paired with positively-valenced music better than texts paired with negatively-valenced music; (iii) participants with AD recalled sung texts better than spoken texts (after 10 min and 24 hours), regardless of musical valence while HC displayed better recall for texts paired with positively-valenced music. Conclusions: Musical mnemonics may help people with AD learn verbal information that relates to their daily life, regardless the musical expertise of the patients. This result gives promising clinical insights showing that music processing is robust to brain damage in AD. Possible hypotheses explaining the effectiveness of musical mnemonics in AD regardless the musical valence are discussed (e.g., different processing between musical and spoken conditions; disappearance of the positivity bias and implications with respect to the underlying socio-emotional selectivity theory). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that giving brief descriptions for unfamiliar faces can lead to better episodic recognition memory relative to faces in a view-only (control) condition. More broadly, this finding is consistent with the benefits of elaboration during study on later recognition. Two articles have reported description benefits when participants did not know the study condition (control or description) for a trial until after a face was removed from view (Jones, Armstrong, Casey, Burson, & Memon, 2013; Jones, Robinson, & Steel, 2018). We conducted 3 experiments to shed additional light on the basis for this benefit, and the measures we used were old-new recognition and recognition confidence for the face and the proportion of test faces with recall for descriptive information. In Experiments 1 and 2 participants were explicitly instructed to describe each study face and to type the description or not (control condition). There was a numerical advantage for "old" responses, with the difference being significant in Experiment 1. A significant advantage for the typed condition occurred for "very sure old" and recall responses for both experiments. The advantage occurred across study repetition conditions in Experiment 1 and when participants were given plenty of time to generate a description in Experiment 2. Overall, these findings indicate that physically typing the description leads to a small advantage in recollection relative to a condition without physical production (i.e., a type of physical production effect). However, the production advantage was not obtained on any measure in Experiment 3 when the control condition required participants to type the number of words in the description. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relative to younger adults, older adults tend to perform more poorly on tests of both free recall and item recognition memory. The age difference in performance is typically larger for recall tasks relative to those involving recognition. However, there have been reports of comparable age-related differences in free recall and item recognition performance. Further, a differential performance cost does not necessarily mean that processes involved in recall are specifically affected by age. Here we present a meta-analysis of 36 articles reporting 89 direct comparisons of free recall and item recognition in younger and older groups of participants. Standardized effect sizes reveal that age differences are larger for recall tasks (Hedges' g = 0.89, 95% confidence intervals [0.75, 1.03]) than for recognition tasks (0.54, [0.37, 0.72]). Further, Brinley analyses of the data suggest that distinct functions are needed to relate younger and older performance for the two tasks. These functions differ in intercept pointing to a disproportionate age difference in recall relative to recognition. This is in line with theories of memory and aging which posit specific deficits in processes related to search and retrieval from memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies indicate that an episodic specificity induction (ESI)--brief training in recollecting the details of a past experience--enhances performance on subsequent tasks that rely on episodic retrieval, including autobiographical memory, imagination, problem solving, and creative thinking. In 5 experiments, we examined whether these benefits of the ESI extend to reducing susceptibility to false memory, or whether they are accompanied by a cost in the form of increased susceptibility to false memory. To assess how ESI impacts false memory generation, we used the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, a reliable procedure for generating false memories. When an ESI was administered after DRM list presentation and just before a free recall test, rates of false recall for critical lures were significantly enhanced relative to a control induction. These findings support the hypothesis that ESI operates to boost recollection of illusory episodic details associated with critical lures in the DRM, and suggest that constructive rather than reproductive episodic retrieval processes support the wide-ranging effects of ESI on a range of cognitive tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which doodling, which we define as drawing that is semantically unrelated to to-be-remembered information, enhances memory performance. In Experiment 1, participants heard auditorily presented lists of categorized words. They were asked to either doodle, draw a picture of, or write out, each item while listening to the target words. Participants showed poorer free recall for words encoded while free-form doodling compared to words that were drawn or written, with drawing resulting in the best performance. In Experiment 2, target words were embedded in a narrative story to better resemble a real-world situation in which one might doodle. Participants monitored each auditorily presented narrative while either free-form doodling, drawing, or writing in response to the target words. As in Experiment 1, doodling led to the poorest subsequent recall for targets compared to drawing or writing during encoding. In Experiment 3, we used a structured doodling task at encoding, such that participants shaded in geometric shapes printed on paper rather than create their own doodles. Structured doodling led to similar levels of recall compared to simply writing. Creating a drawing of the words at encoding, rather than doodling, once again enhanced recall significantly. Taken together, these findings indicate that unlike task-relevant drawing, structured doodling during study provides no benefits to free recall, and free-form doodling leads to memory costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have indicated that remembering specific past experiences (i.e., episodic memory) and imagining specific novel future experiences (i.e., episodic simulation) are supported by common mental processes. An open question, however, is whether and to what extent the content of specific past episodes is sampled when simulating a specific future episode. The current study aimed to answer this question. Participants recalled past episodes each comprising two episodic details, a personally familiar location and person. Participants also simulated novel future episodes using recombined pairs of person and location details taken from different recalled episodes. Participants rated the vividness of each location and person in their memory and simulation. We conducted a multi-level analysis where the vividness rating during memory was used to predict the vividness rating during simulation at the level of individual shared details (i.e., location or person). The vividness of the memorial detail co-varied with the vividness of the simulated detail; this relationship persisted even after accounting for the underlying familiarity of the details. These findings strongly suggest that simulations of specific future experiences are based upon the contents of specific prior episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has reported that walking through a doorway to a new location makes memory for objects and events experienced in the previous location less accurate. This effect, termed the location updating effect, has been used to suggest that location changes are used to mark boundaries between events in memory: memories for objects encountered within the current event are more available than those from beyond an event boundary. Within a computer‐generated memory task, participants navigated through virtual rooms, walking through doorways, and interacting with objects. The accuracy and their subjective experience of their memory for the objects (remember/know and confidence) were assessed. The findings showed that shifts in location decreased accurate responses associated with the subjective experience of remembering but not those associated with the experience of knowing, even when considering only the most confident responses in each condition. These findings demonstrate that a shift in location selectively impacts recollection and so contributes to our understanding of boundaries in event memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A meta-analysis of the extent, nature and pattern of memory performance in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Multiple observational studies have challenged the relative sparing of memory in bvFTD as stated in the current diagnostic criteria. Methods: We performed a meta-analytic review covering the period 1967 to February 2017 of case-control studies on episodic memory in bvFTD versus control participants (16 studies, 383 patients, 603 control participants), and patients with bvFTD versus those with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (20 studies, 452 bvFTD, 874 AD). Differences between both verbal and non-verbal working memory, episodic memory learning and recall, and recognition memory were examined. Data were extracted from the papers and combined into a common metric measure of effect, Hedges’ d. Results: Patients with bvFTD show large deficits in memory performance compared to controls (Hedges’ d –1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] [–1.23, –0.95]), but perform significantly better than patients with AD (Hedges’ d 0.85; 95% CI [0.69, 1.03]). Learning and recall tests differentiate best between patients with bvFTD and AD (p<.01). There is 37–62% overlap in test scores between the two groups. Conclusions: This study points to memory disorders in patients with bvFTD, with performance at an intermediate level between controls and patients with AD. This indicates that, instead of being an exclusion criterion for bvFTD diagnosis, memory deficits should be regarded as a potential integral part of the clinical spectrum. (JINS, 2018, 24, 593–605) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study is to examine the effects of motivated forgetting and aging on true and false memory. Sixty young and 54 healthy older adults were instructed to study two lists of 18 words each. Each list was composed of three sets of six words associated with three non-presented critical words. After studying list 1, half of the participants received the instruction to forget List 1, whereas the other half received the instruction to remember List 1. Next, all the subjects studied list 2; finally, they were asked to remember the words studied in both lists. The results showed that when participants intended to forget the studied List 1, they were less likely to recall the studied words, but more likely to intrude the critical words. That is, we can intentionally forget something but this can also entail the intrusion of some related false memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women show better performance than men on a range of episodic memory tasks. Evidence regarding a neuroanatomical localization of this effect remains ambiguous. It has been suggested that anterior temporal lobe structures are responsible for sex differences in verbal memory, yet temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and TLE surgery do not affect women’s verbal memory advantage. Instead, frontal lobe regions may be relevant for female verbal memory superiority, i.e. by enabling more efficient encoding and retrieval strategies in women. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether women’s verbal memory advantage can be found in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), and how patients with FLE and those with TLE differ with regard to sex differences in verbal memory. Fifty patients with unilateral FLE (26 women, 24 men) were compared with 183 patients with unilateral TLE (90 women, 93 men) on both verbal learning and delayed memory. We found that women showed better verbal memory than men in the TLE group, but not in the FLE group. In addition, we found that patients with TLE showed worse verbal learning than those with FLE. Our findings support the idea that women’s advantage in verbal memory may be related to frontal lobe function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of evidence supports the existence of a robust handedness difference in episodic memory retrieval, with inconsistent-handedness being associated with superior memory across a wide variety of paradigms, including superior retrieval of lab-based and real world memories. Despite superior episidoc memory in inconsistent-handers, and despite neuroanatomical and neurophysiological differences in cortical regions between inconsistent- and consistent-handers, we are aware of no studies to date that have examined physiological activity in the brains of inconsistent- versus consistent-handers while engaged in memory tasks. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to present a first look at this issue, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a simple, non-invasive measure of frontal lobe activity during encoding and recall of list words in inconsistent- and consistent-handers. Behaviourally, we replicated prior studies, finding a significant inconsistent-handed advantage in free recall. Using fNIRS-derived oxygenated haemoglobin (O2Hb) as a measure of frontal lobe activity, we found the first evidence for handedness differences in brain activity that are associated with the handedness differences in episodic retrieval. Specifically, the primary finding was that increased O2Hb in the right hemisphere during recall was associated with better retrieval, but for consistent-handers only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior work demonstrates that application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) improves memory. In this study, we investigated tDCS effects on face-name associative memory using both recall and recognition tests. Participants encoded face-name pairs under either active (1.5 mA) or sham (.1 mA) stimulation applied to the scalp adjacent to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), an area known to support associative memory. Participants’ memory was then tested after study (day one) and then again after a 24-h delay (day two), to assess both immediate and delayed stimulation effects on memory. Results indicated that active relative to sham stimulation led to substantially improved recall (more than 50%) at both day one and day two. Recognition memory performance did not differ between stimulation groups at either time point. These results suggest that stimulation at encoding improves memory performance by enhancing memory for details that enable a rich recollective experience, but that these improvements are evident only under some testing conditions, especially those that rely on recollection. Overall, stimulation of the dlPFC could have led to recall improvement through enhanced encoding from stimulation or from carryover effects of stimulation that influenced retrieval processes, or both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consolidation of newly formed memories is readily disrupted, but can it be enhanced? Given the prominent role of hippocampal theta oscillations in memory formation and retrieval, we hypothesized that upregulating theta power during early stages of consolidation might benefit memory stability and persistence. We used EEG neurofeedback to enable participants to selectively increase theta power in their EEG spectra following episodic memory encoding, while other participants engaged in low beta-focused neurofeedback or passively viewed a neutral nature movie. Free recall assessments immediately following the interventions, 24 h later and 7 d later all indicated benefit to memory of theta neurofeedback, relative to low beta neurofeedback or passive movie-viewing control conditions. The degree of benefit to memory was correlated with the extent of theta power modulation, but not with other spectral changes. Theta enhancement may provide optimal conditions for stabilization of new hippocampus-dependent memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodic counterfactual thoughts—imagined alternative ways in which personal past events might have occurred—are frequently accompanied by intense emotions. Here, participants recollected positive and negative autobiographical memories and then generated better and worse episodic counterfactual events from those memories. Our results suggest that the projected emotional intensity during the simulated remembered/imagined event is significantly higher than but typically positively related to the emotional intensity while remembering/imagining the event. Furthermore, repeatedly simulating counterfactual events heightened the emotional intensity felt while simulating the counterfactual event. Finally, for both the emotional intensity accompanying the experience of remembering/imagining and the projected emotional intensity during the simulated remembered/imagined event, the emotional intensity of negative memories was greater than the emotional intensity of upward counterfactuals generated from them but lower than the emotional intensity of downward counterfactuals generated from them. These findings are discussed in relation to clinical work and functional theories of counterfactual thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human cognition is sensitive to the distinction between living and nonliving things. Animacy plays a role in language comprehension, reasoning, the organization of knowledge, and perception. Although ignored until recently, animacy significantly influences basic memory processes as well. Recent research has indicated that people remember animate targets better than matched inanimate targets; in fact, an item's animacy status is one of the best predictors of its later recall. Animate processing of inanimate stimuli can produce retention advantages, as can animate touching--inanimate objects are remembered better when they are simply touched by animate things. We discuss these recent findings and their implications for the evolution of cognition, the methodology of memory experiments, and educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of encoding variables are moderated by experimental design, such that an effect (e.g., the generation effect) on free recall is larger in mixed-list than pure-list designs. Experiments 1 through 4 consistently found that the testing effect is moderated by experimental design across differences in materials, list structure, list length, presence of feedback, and rates of retrieval-practice success. In these experiments, each study list was followed by its own free recall test. However, when multiple lists are followed by a single test, the testing effect was equivalent for mixed and pure lists (Experiment 5), a limiting condition on the design effect. Overall, the results represent an important similarity between the testing effect and the other encoding variables moderated by design. More specifically, the results suggest an important parallel between the mnemonic effects of retrieving information from episodic (testing effect) and semantic (generation effect) memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments, we investigate hypermnesia, net memory improvements with repeated testing of the same material after a single study trial. In the first experiment, we found hypermnesia across three trials for the recall of word solutions to Socratic stimuli (dictionary-like definitions of concepts) replicating Erdelyi, Buschke, and Finkelstein and, for the first time using these materials, for their recognition. In the second experiment, we had two “yes/no” recognition groups, a Socratic stimuli group presented with concrete and abstract verbal materials and a word-only control group. Using signal detection measures, we found hypermnesia for concrete Socratic stimuli—and stable performance for abstract stimuli across three recognition tests. The control group showed memory decrements across tests. We interpret these findings with the alternative retrieval pathways (ARP) hypothesis, contrasting it with alternative theories of hypermnesia, such as depth of processing, generation and retrieve–recognise. We conclude that recognition hypermnesia for concrete Socratic stimuli is a reliable phenomenon, which we found in two experiments involving both forced-choice and yes/no recognition procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research examined the effects of pre-encoding and pre-recall induced mood on episodic memory. It was hypothesized that happy and/or angry mood prior to encoding (increasing left hemisphere activity), in tandem with fearful mood prior to recall (increasing right hemisphere activity) would be associated with superior episodic memory. It was also hypothesized that tympanic membrane measures (TMT), indicative of hemispheric activity, would change as a function of induced mood. Although subjectively-experienced mood induction was successful, pre-encoding and pre-recall mood did not alter memory, and only altered TMT in the pre-encoding fear and pre-recall angry mood induction conditions. Interestingly, baseline absolute difference between left and right TMT, a measure of differential hemispheric activity, regardless of the direction of that activity, was significantly positively related to number of total words written, number of correctly recalled words, and corrected recall score. This same TMT measure pre-encoding, regardless of specific mood, was significantly negatively related to false recall. Results are discussed in terms the HERA model of episodic memory, and in the nature of interhemispheric interaction involved in episodic recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autobiographical memory involves the recall of both personal facts (semantic memory) and the re-experiencing of past personal events (episodic memory). The recall of autobiographical episodic details has been associated with a specific network, which involves the prefrontal and medial temporal lobes, in addition to posterior regions of the brain. Seizure activity has been previously shown to disrupt the consolidation of newly-learned information into long-term memory, but it is not yet known whether primary generalised seizures alone are also associated with deficits in the recall of autobiographical memories. Here we examined this recall in children who experience generalised rather than localisation-related seizures: children with Idiopathic Generalised Epilepsy (IGE). In this study, 18 children with IGE and 42 healthy controls of comparable age (6–16 years), sex and socio-economic status were administered the Children's Autobiographical Interview (CAI). Compared with controls, children with IGE recalled significantly fewer episodic details, even when retrieval prompts were provided. In contrast, no group difference was found for the recall of semantic autobiographic details. Within the IGE group, hierarchical regression analyses showed that patient age and earlier age of diagnosis were significantly related to the recall of episodic autobiographical details over different conditions of the CAI, explaining up to 37% of variance. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence of autobiographical episodic memory deficits in patients with primary generalised seizures. As no evidence of localisation-related epilepsy is apparent in patients with IGE, our findings suggest that generalised seizures alone, especially when developed at an early age, could compromise memories for personally-experienced events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the paper are to update Rolls’ quantitative computational theory of hippocampal function and the predictions it makes about the different subregions (dentate gyrus, CA3 and CA1), and to examine behavioral and electrophysiological data that address the functions of the hippocampus and particularly its subregions. Based on the computational proposal that the dentate gyrus produces sparse representations by competitive learning and via the mossy fiber pathway forces new representations on the CA3 during learning (encoding), it has been shown behaviorally that the dentate gyrus supports spatial pattern separation during learning. Based on the computational proposal that CA3–CA3 autoassociative networks are important for episodic memory, it has been shown behaviorally that the CA3 supports spatial rapid one-trial learning, learning of arbitrary associations where space is a component, pattern completion, spatial short-term memory, and spatial sequence learning by associations formed between successive items. The concept that the CA1 recodes information from CA3 and sets up associatively learned backprojections to neocortex to allow subsequent retrieval of information to neocortex, is consistent with findings on consolidation. Behaviorally, the CA1 is implicated in processing temporal information as shown by investigations requiring temporal order pattern separation and associations across time; and computationally this could involve associations in CA1 between object and timing information that have their origins in the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex respectively. The perforant path input from the entorhinal cortex to DG is implicated in learning, to CA3 in retrieval from CA3, and to CA1 in retrieval after longer time intervals (“intermediate-term memory”) and in the temporal sequence memory for objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While fMRI activation studies contrasting task conditions regularly assess the whole brain, this is usually not true for studies analyzing task-dependent brain connectivity changes by psychophysiological interactions (PPI). Here we combine standard PPI (sPPI) and generalized PPI (gPPI) with a priori brain parcellation by spatially constrained normalized cut spectral clustering (NCUT) to analyze task-dependent connectivity changes in a whole brain manner, and compare the results to multiseed conventional PPI analyses over all activation peaks in an episodic memory recall task. We show that, depending on the chosen parcellation frame, the whole-brain PPI approach is able to detect a large amount of the information that is detected by the conventional approach. Over and above, whole-brain PPI allows identification of several additional task-modulated connections, particularly from seed regions without significant activation differences between conditions. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5071-5082, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is clear evidence of a deficit in episodic memory for older adults compared to younger adults. Using an intertrial technique previous research has investigated whether this deficit can be attributed to a decline in encoding or consolidation. On standard memory tests, these two aspects of memory function can be measured by examining the items forgotten or acquired across multiple learning trials. The present study assessed whether age deficits in episodic memory were affected by stimulus characteristics, specifically age of acquisition (AoA). A standard intertrial design was implemented whereby participants studied word lists over several study-test trials. The stimulus characteristics of AoA were manipulated using a pure-list technique. Our findings showed that older adults demonstrate an overall recall deficit which appeared to be a consequence of both an encoding deficit and consolidation weakness. Earlier-acquired words were recalled significantly better than later-acquired words and this was apparently due to both enhanced encoding and consolidation of earlier- over later-acquired words. The key finding is that older adults show a recall advantage for earlier- compared to later-acquired words over the entire experiment to a greater degree than younger adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifactorial cognitive training programs have a positive effect on cognition in healthy older adults. Among the age-sensitive cognitive domains, episodic memory is the most affected. In the present study, we evaluated the benefits on episodic memory of a computer-based memory and attention training. We targeted consciously controlled processes at encoding and minimizing processing at retrieval, by using more familiarity than recollection during recognition. Such an approach emphasizes processing at encoding and prevents subjects from reinforcing their own errors. Results showed that the training improved recognition performances and induced near transfer to recall. The largest benefits, however, were for tasks with high mental load. Improvement in free recall depended on the modality to recall; semantic recall was improved but not spatial recall. In addition, a far transfer was also observed with better memory self-perception and self-esteem of the participants. Finally, at 6-month follow up, maintenance of benefits was observed only for semantic free recall. The challenge now is to corroborate far transfer by objective measures of everyday life executive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodic retrieval plays a functional-adaptive role in supporting divergent thinking, the ability to creatively combine different pieces of information. However, the same constructive memory process that provides a functional-adaptive benefit can also leave memory prone to error. In two experiments, we employed an individual differences approach to examine the relationship between different forms of creative thinking (divergent and convergent thinking) and false memory generation in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. In Experiment 1, and replicating prior findings, false recognition was significantly predicted by convergent thinking performance. Critically, we also observed a novel predictive relationship between false recognition and quantitative metrics of divergent thinking performance. In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated and we further showed that false recall was predicted by quantitative metrics of divergent thinking. Our findings suggest that constructive memory processes link creative thinking with the production of memory errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hippocampal ripples are prominent synchronization events generated by hippocampal neuronal assemblies. To date, ripples have been primarily associated with navigational memory in rodents and short-term episodic recollections in humans. Here, we uncover different profiles of ripple activity in the human hippocampus during the retrieval of recent and remote autobiographical events and semantic facts. We found that the ripple rate increased significantly before reported recall compared to control conditions. Patterns of ripple activity across multiple hippocampal sites demonstrated remarkable specificity for memory type. Intriguingly, these ripple patterns revealed a semantization dimension, in which patterns associated with autobiographical contents become similar to those of semantic memory as a function of memory age. Finally, widely distributed sites across the neocortex exhibited ripple-coupled activations during recollection, with the strongest activation found within the default mode network. Our results thus reveal a key role for hippocampal ripples in orchestrating hippocampal-cortical communication across large-scale networks involved in conscious recollection. • Simultaneous iEEG recordings of cortex and hippocampal ripples linked to cognition • Ripples selectively activate during autobiographic and semantic memory recall • Multisite ripple activity patterns reflect memory semantization processes • Ripples coordinate a DMN-centered cortical-hippocampal interplay during recall Norman et al. report that synchronous hippocampal bursts (ripples) selectively emerge when patients recall past autobiographical events. Those ripples form spatial patterns that become increasingly similar to semantic-memory patterns, the more remote the memory. The results demonstrate the pivotal role of ripples in coordinating recollections in the human brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A gist orientation before retrieval decreases the number of recalled details. • The gist orientation does not impact the subjective vividness judgements. • Vividness ratings map onto trial-by-trial recalled details in the gist condition. • Memory traces in the gist condition were still rich enough to be judged as vivid. A gist retrieval-orientation decreases one's ability to remember objective details from past experiences. Here, we examined whether a gist retrieval-orientation manipulation can impact both the objective and subjective aspects of remembering. Young participants took part in two cued-recollection tasks in which they studied pictures associated with labels; at retrieval, from the labels, they evaluated the vividness of their memories of the corresponding pictures, and recalled picture details. Before retrieval, participants were submitted either to a gist or a control retrieval-orientation (one per task). Results revealed that the amount of recalled details was lower following the gist condition while vividness ratings did not differ between the two retrieval orientations. Critically, the amount of recalled details predicted the corresponding vividness ratings to a similar extent in the gist and control conditions, thus suggesting that recollected memory traces in the gist condition were still rich enough to be judged as subjectively vivid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]