See Brain Remember
(HealthNewsDigest.com).. DURHAM, N.C. -- People may permanently store memories in their brains, even if they cannot consciously recall them, according to a study by Duke University Medical Center researchers. The team's findings were published in the May 24, 2006 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.
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Standard paradigm: Show list of words. Later show another list containing old words and new words. Subjects say whether a word is old or new. Research shows that various kinds of cueing or psychological set can increase chances of correctly recognizing old word as old. Evidence generally supports the conclusion that the memories are always stored and that reporting errors are produced by failure of access at the time or retrieval. (I think this is now called Error 404.)
In this study, researchers used fMRI to observe activity in the medial temporal lobes (MTL), an area known to play a role in the paradigm. An old word always elicited increased activity in the rear portion of the MTL, regardless of whether the subject recognized it as old. That is certainly the result to be expected from the psychological literature, but this research shows a new way to study the process.
In this study, for example, we get evidence about what happens in failure to recognize. When a subject correctly reported that the word was new, there was increased activity in a front portion of the MTL. But when subject failed to recognize an old word, there was increased activity in both parts of the MTL.
I would interpret this last result in terms of the pandemonium model. The two parts of the MTL are reporting conflicting conclusions. The rear MTL is saying “old data!” But it is not shouting loud enough to quiet the other part. In the behavioral paradigm, you add cues or psychological set. These probably boost the activity of the rear MTL (testable hypothesis) and increase the odds of recognition. With fMRI, we can see that when the two modules remain in competition, the result is an error.
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Standard paradigm: Show list of words. Later show another list containing old words and new words. Subjects say whether a word is old or new. Research shows that various kinds of cueing or psychological set can increase chances of correctly recognizing old word as old. Evidence generally supports the conclusion that the memories are always stored and that reporting errors are produced by failure of access at the time or retrieval. (I think this is now called Error 404.)
In this study, researchers used fMRI to observe activity in the medial temporal lobes (MTL), an area known to play a role in the paradigm. An old word always elicited increased activity in the rear portion of the MTL, regardless of whether the subject recognized it as old. That is certainly the result to be expected from the psychological literature, but this research shows a new way to study the process.
In this study, for example, we get evidence about what happens in failure to recognize. When a subject correctly reported that the word was new, there was increased activity in a front portion of the MTL. But when subject failed to recognize an old word, there was increased activity in both parts of the MTL.
I would interpret this last result in terms of the pandemonium model. The two parts of the MTL are reporting conflicting conclusions. The rear MTL is saying “old data!” But it is not shouting loud enough to quiet the other part. In the behavioral paradigm, you add cues or psychological set. These probably boost the activity of the rear MTL (testable hypothesis) and increase the odds of recognition. With fMRI, we can see that when the two modules remain in competition, the result is an error.
posted by Selby Evans at 10:33 AM
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