Electrophysiological evidence for flexible goal-directed cue processing during episodic retrieval

Herron, Jane E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-0713, Evans, Lisa H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3874-4676 and Wilding, Edward L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9495-1418 2016. Electrophysiological evidence for flexible goal-directed cue processing during episodic retrieval. NeuroImage 132 , pp. 24-31. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.02.025

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Abstract

A widely held assumption is that memory retrieval is aided by cognitive control processes that are engaged flexibly in service of memory retrieval and memory decisions. While there is some empirical support for this view, a notable exception is the absence of evidence for the flexible use of retrieval control in functional neuroimaging experiments requiring frequent switches between tasks with different cognitive demands. This absence is troublesome in so far as frequent switches between tasks mimic some of the challenges that are typically placed on memory outside the laboratory. In this experiment we instructed participants to alternate frequently between three episodic memory tasks requiring item recognition or retrieval of one of two different kinds of contextual information encoded in a prior study phase (screen location or encoding task). Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by unstudied items in the two tasks requiring retrieval of study context were reliably different, demonstrating for the first time that ERPs index task-specific processing of retrieval cues when retrieval goals change frequently. The inclusion of the item recognition task was a novel and important addition in this study, because only the ERPs elicited by unstudied items in one of the two context conditions diverged from those in the item recognition condition. This outcome constrains functional interpretations of the differences that emerged between the two context conditions and emphasises the utility of this baseline in functional imaging studies of retrieval processing operations.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Event-related potentials; Episodic memory; Cue processing; Retrieval orientation; Content specificity; Task-switching; Preparatory processing
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the CC-BY license.
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	1053-8119
Funders:	Wellcome Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	9 February 2016
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 18:11
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/87858

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