The spatiotemporal dynamics of autobiographical memory: neural correlates of recall, emotional intensity, and reliving.
Abstract
We sought to map the time course of autobiographical memory retrieval, including brain
regions that mediate phenomenological experiences of reliving and emotional intensity.
Participants recalled personal memories to auditory word cues during event-related
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants pressed a button when a
memory was accessed, maintained and elaborated the memory, and then gave subjective
ratings of emotion and reliving. A novel fMRI approach based on timing differences
capitalized on the protracted reconstructive process of autobiographical memory to
segregate brain areas contributing to initial access and later elaboration and maintenance
of episodic memories. The initial period engaged hippocampal, retrosplenial, and medial
and right prefrontal activity, whereas the later period recruited visual, precuneus,
and left prefrontal activity. Emotional intensity ratings were correlated with activity
in several regions, including the amygdala and the hippocampus during the initial
period. Reliving ratings were correlated with activity in visual cortex and ventromedial
and inferior prefrontal regions during the later period. Frontopolar cortex was the
only brain region sensitive to emotional intensity across both periods. Results were
confirmed by time-locked averages of the fMRI signal. The findings indicate dynamic
recruitment of emotion-, memory-, and sensory-related brain regions during remembering
and their dissociable contributions to phenomenological features of the memories.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdolescentAdult
Affect
Association Learning
Autobiography as Topic
Brain
Emotions
Female
Humans
Imagination
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mental Recall
Self Concept
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10090Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1093/cercor/bhm048Publication Info
Daselaar, Sander M; Rice, Heather J; Greenberg, Daniel L; Cabeza, Roberto; LaBar,
Kevin S; & Rubin, David C (2008). The spatiotemporal dynamics of autobiographical memory: neural correlates of recall,
emotional intensity, and reliving. Cereb Cortex, 18(1). pp. 217-229. 10.1093/cercor/bhm048. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10090.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Roberto Cabeza
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
My laboratory investigates the neural correlates of memory and cognition in young
and older adults using fMRI. We have three main lines of research: First, we distinguish
the neural correlates of various episodic memory processes. For example, we have compared
encoding vs. retrieval, item vs. source memory, recall vs. recognition, true vs. false
memory, and emotional vs. nonemotional memory. We are particularly interested in the
contribution of prefrontal cortex (PFC) and medial temporal lobe (M
Kevin S. LaBar
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
My research focuses on understanding how emotional events modulate cognitive processes
in the human brain. We aim to identify brain regions that encode the emotional properties
of sensory stimuli, and to show how these regions interact with neural systems supporting
social cognition, executive control, and learning and memory. To achieve this goal,
we use a variety of cognitive neuroscience techniques in human subject populations.
These include psychophysiological monitoring, functional magnetic
David C. Rubin
Juanita M. Kreps Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
For .pdfs of all publications click here My main research interest has been in
long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes
the study of autobiographical memory and oral tra
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