Accurate long-term memory for spatial location

While it may seem that salient visual events, like the flashing lights on an ambulance, can automatically capture our attention, capture is actually under our control. Depending on our current internal goals, we adopt attentional control settings (ACSs) that specify what stimuli in the environment capture our attention. It has been shown that ACSs can be defined based on long-term episodic memory representations. For example, when searching for the items on your grocery list, an ACS can be specified based on your long-term memory of the list, such that your attention will be drawn to those items, and only those items. Importantly, episodic memories incorporate contextual information that can enhance recall when reinstated (e.g., you will remember your grocery list better if it was memorized at the grocery store rather than at home). Here we asked whether reinstating context can enhance the establishment of long-term memory ACSs. Participants memorized two sets of 15 images of objects in a particular context (i.e., a coloured box in a particular spatial location), that they then searched for, inducing an episodic-based ACS for those objects. During the search task, this encoding context was either reinstated, or not. We found that individuals are able to flexibly switch between ACSs and sources of information. However, we did not find sufficient evidence for the effect of context on the establishment of ACSs or their flexibility. This study extends our understanding of the factors that influence memory-guided attention, and the impact of contextual reinstatement on the formation of ACSs.

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Zif268 / Egr1 gain of function facilitates hippocampal synaptic plasticity and long-term spatial recognition memory

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2013.0159 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 369 (1633) ◽

pp. 20130159 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Zsuzsa Penke ◽

Elise Morice ◽

Alexandra Veyrac ◽

Alexandra Gros ◽

Carine Chagneau ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Recognition Memory ◽

Target Genes ◽

Spatial Location ◽

Long Term Potentiation ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Term Memory ◽

Term Potentiation ◽

Activity Dependent ◽

Increased Activity

It is well established that Zif268/Egr1 , a member of the Egr family of transcription factors, is critical for the consolidation of several forms of memory; however, it is as yet uncertain whether increasing expression of Zif268 in neurons can facilitate memory formation. Here, we used an inducible transgenic mouse model to specifically induce Zif268 overexpression in forebrain neurons and examined the effect on recognition memory and hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity. We found that Zif268 overexpression during the establishment of memory for objects did not change the ability to form a long-term memory of objects, but enhanced the capacity to form a long-term memory of the spatial location of objects. This enhancement was paralleled by increased long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and by increased activity-dependent expression of Zif268 and selected Zif268 target genes. These results provide novel evidence that transcriptional mechanisms engaging Zif268 contribute to determining the strength of newly encoded memories.

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Conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) supports core claims of Christiansen and Chater

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x15000928 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

Author(s):

Mary C. Potter

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽

Language Comprehension ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Visual Presentation ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Use Of Knowledge

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.

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Comparison of Auditory, Language, Memory, and Attention Abilities in Children With and Without Listening Difficulties

American Journal of Audiology ◽

10.1044/2020_aja-20-00018 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 710-727

Author(s):

Beula M. Magimairaj ◽

Naveen K. Nagaraj ◽

Alexander V. Sergeev ◽

Natalie J. Benafield

Keyword(s):

Auditory Processing ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Group Differences ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Short Term ◽

Significant Group ◽

Term Memory ◽

Memory And Attention ◽

Speed And Accuracy

Objectives School-age children with and without parent-reported listening difficulties (LiD) were compared on auditory processing, language, memory, and attention abilities. The objective was to extend what is known so far in the literature about children with LiD by using multiple measures and selective novel measures across the above areas. Design Twenty-six children who were reported by their parents as having LiD and 26 age-matched typically developing children completed clinical tests of auditory processing and multiple measures of language, attention, and memory. All children had normal-range pure-tone hearing thresholds bilaterally. Group differences were examined. Results In addition to significantly poorer speech-perception-in-noise scores, children with LiD had reduced speed and accuracy of word retrieval from long-term memory, poorer short-term memory, sentence recall, and inferencing ability. Statistically significant group differences were of moderate effect size; however, standard test scores of children with LiD were not clinically poor. No statistically significant group differences were observed in attention, working memory capacity, vocabulary, and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions Mild signal-to-noise ratio loss, as reflected by the group mean of children with LiD, supported the children's functional listening problems. In addition, children's relative weakness in select areas of language performance, short-term memory, and long-term memory lexical retrieval speed and accuracy added to previous research on evidence-based areas that need to be evaluated in children with LiD who almost always have heterogenous profiles. Importantly, the functional difficulties faced by children with LiD in relation to their test results indicated, to some extent, that commonly used assessments may not be adequately capturing the children's listening challenges. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12808607

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Retrieval from Memory or Procedural Strategies for Addition Problems

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000036 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

pp. 35-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Muriel Fanget ◽

Catherine Thevenot ◽

Caroline Castel ◽

Michel Fayol

Keyword(s):

Reaction Times ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Verbal Reports ◽

Term Memory ◽

Simple Addition ◽

Memory Traces ◽

Addition Problem ◽

Retrieval From Memory ◽

Calculation Procedures

In this study, we used a paradigm recently developed ( Thevenot, Fanget, & Fayol, 2007 ) to determine whether 10-year-old children solve simple addition problems by retrieval of the answer from long-term memory or by calculation procedures. Our paradigm is unique in that it does not rely on reaction times or verbal reports, which are known to potentially bias the results, especially in children. Rather, it takes advantage of the fact that calculation procedures degrade the memory traces of the operands, so that it is more difficult to recognize them when they have been involved in the solution of an addition problem by calculation rather than by retrieval. The present study sharpens the current conclusions in the literature and shows that, when the sum of addition problems is up to 10, children mainly use retrieval, but when it is greater than 10, they mainly use calculation procedures.

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The Acute Effect of Alcohol on Various Memory Processes

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000038 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 249-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Márk Molnár ◽

Roland Boha ◽

Balázs Czigler ◽

Zsófia Anna Gaál

Keyword(s):

Low Dose ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Acute Effect ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Term Memory ◽

Memory Processes ◽

Different Types ◽

The Brain ◽

Legal Consequences

This review surveys relevant and recent data of the pertinent literature regarding the acute effect of alcohol on various kinds of memory processes with special emphasis on working memory. The characteristics of different types of long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM) processes are summarized with an attempt to relate these to various structures in the brain. LTM is typically impaired by chronic alcohol intake but according to some data a single dose of ethanol may have long lasting effects if administered at a critically important age. The most commonly seen deleterious acute effect of alcohol to STM appears following large doses of ethanol in conditions of “binge drinking” causing the “blackout” phenomenon. However, with the application of various techniques and well-structured behavioral paradigms it is possible to detect, albeit occasionally, subtle changes of cognitive processes even as a result of a low dose of alcohol. These data may be important for the consideration of legal consequences of low-dose ethanol intake in conditions such as driving, etc.

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