Retrieval Processing in Human Memory: ERP and fMRI Investigations

描述(由申请人提供)：获取和检索独特事件的记忆的能力被称为‘情节记忆’。情景记忆的失能在阿尔茨海默病和创伤性脑损伤等几种常见的神经系统疾病中都很突出，而且有研究表明，情景记忆功能障碍在创伤后应激障碍和抑郁症等常见精神障碍中发挥了作用。情节记忆损害和功能障碍的特征，以及合理补救措施的发展，需要了解支持情节记忆及其神经基础的认知操作。这项研究将通过认知神经科学对情景记忆提取的两个方面的研究来促进这一理解：i)当线索被用来试图从记忆中提取情景信息时，以及ii)当提取尝试成功时。这项研究将把行为学方法与两种非侵入性测量大脑活动的方法相结合，即事件相关电位(ERPs)和功能磁共振成像(FMRI)。总之，这些方法将被用来进一步理解线索加工和成功的情景提取。关于线索加工，需要解决的问题包括：在什么情况下，个体可以偏向于为特定的提取目标服务的线索处理(采用‘提取定向’)；维持特定的提取定向的神经关联；以及由服务于不同的提取目标的线索所引发的不同神经活动的功能意义。在成功检索的情况下，问题包括：先前描述的情节提取的神经相关的普遍性；这些神经相关的敏感性与所检索的信息的内容和数量相关；以及现有基于识别的调查情节提取的程序与通过回忆程序获得的结果的比较。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The capacity to acquire and retrieve memories of unique events is termed 'episodic memory'. Disabling impairments of episodic memory are prominent in several common neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease and Traumatic Brain Injury, and it has been proposed that episodic memory dysfunction plays a role in common psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The characterization of episodic memory impairment and dysfunction, and the development of rational remedial measures, require an understanding of the cognitive operations that support episodic memory and their neural underpinnings. The proposed research will contribute to this understanding through a cognitive neuroscience investigation of two aspects of episodic memory retrieval: the processes engaged i) when a cue is employed in an attempt to retrieve episodic information from memory, and ii) when a retrieval attempt is successful. The research will combine behavioral methods with two methods for non-invasive measurement of brain activity, event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Together, the methods will be employed to further understanding of cue processing and successful episodic retrieval. With regard to cue processing, issues to be addressed include: the circumstances under which individuals can bias cue processing (adopt a 'retrieval orientation') in service of a specific retrieval goal; the neural correlates of the maintenance of specific retrieval orientations; and the functional significance of differential neural activity elicited by cues employed in service of different retrieval goals. In the case of successful retrieval, issues include: the enerality of previously described neural correlates of episodic retrieval; the sensitivity of these neural correlates to the content and amount of information retrieved; and comparison of existing recognition-based procedures for investigating episodic retrieval to results obtained with a recall procedure.