Polyn et al. (2005)

Category-Specific Cortical Activity Precedes Retrieval During Memory Search

Science, 310(5756), 1963-1966

Find It

DOI

Abstract

Here we describe a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of humans engaged in memory search during a free recall task. Patterns of cortical activity associated with the study of three categories of pictures (faces, locations, and objects) were identified by a pattern-classification algorithm. The algorithm was used to track the reappearance of these activity patterns during the recall period. The reappearance of a given category's activity pattern correlates with verbal recalls made from that category and precedes the recall event by several seconds. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that category-specific activity is cueing the memory system to retrieve studied items.

Reference

Polyn, S. M., Natu, V. S., Cohen, J. D., & Norman, K. A. (2005). Category-Specific Cortical Activity Precedes Retrieval During Memory Search. Science, 310(5756), 1963-1966. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1117645

What Rests on This

1 mechanism cites this source. Each finding below is quoted as it appears on that mechanism's own page.

Context-Dependent Retrieval Memory Processes

Neural substrate

In fMRI during free recall, brain activity patterns specific to the category of pictures studied (faces, locations, objects) reappeared several seconds before people recalled items from that category, consistent with reinstated study context cueing the memory search