Electrophysiological signatures revealing the temporal dynamics of episodic retrieval

• Episodic memory enables mental time travel, allowing us to relive specific, personally experienced events tied in time and place. This feat of human memory is considered to be dependent on the reinstatement of the cortical patterns that were active at the time of encoding. A growing body of recent literature has provided support for this idea by showing that retrieval success co-varies with the neural encoding patterns being reinstated at the time of retrieval. In this presentation, we will discuss findings from multivariate pattern analysis of electrophysiological data revealing the temporal dynamics of such reinstatement during retrieval and its consequences for episodic remembering. First, we will discuss both benefits and costs of cortical pattern reinstatement. Accumulating evidence has shown that memory typically benefits when the neural patterns established during encoding are reinstated during retrieval. However, our data show that reinstatement can also have detrimental effects on later episodic remembering depending on which aspects of the event are called-for. Next, we will show that contextual background features of an encoding episode are reinstated during selective retrieval even when such information is task-irrelevant. These data elucidate that context reinstatement tracks retrieval competition between similar episodes and interference resolution. Combined, our data elucidate the temporal dynamics of episodic remembering and shed new light on encoding and retrieval interactions in episodic memory.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Neurovetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Neurosciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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