Lingering mental context and the formation of lasting memories

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BACKGROUND: Our capacity to learn and remember is surprisingly fickle. Why is it that, in some cases, we must exert ourselves to commit information to memory (e.g., while studying a textbook chapter), while in others, rich and lasting memories materialize almost effortlessly (e.g., while reading a novel)? For decades, philosophers and psychologists have discussed affinity for certain kinds of information, such as narratives, yet we know little about the underlying mechanisms. Why do we excel at remembering certain kinds of inputs, like narratives? What this might tell us about how our memory system works? In this proposal, I outline a new research program centered around a core hypothesis: stories encourage `deep' or elaborative processing - orienting our attention towards the broader meaning of a stimulus rather than its immediate physical properties or low-level semantics - which causes the encoded experience to `linger' in mind for several minutes after exposure. This unintentional and persistent lingering of deeply processed experiences is be ideally suited for processes of post-encoding memory consolidation, thus making lingering a key determinant in the formation of lasting memories. Though a rich body of literature demonstrates that attending to the meaning of an input (i.e., deep processing) facilitates memory formation, little is known about how this is achieved. Here, the phenomenon of 'lingering' provides a novel and testable explanation: the very moments of our experience that we deeply process may last longer in our spontaneous thoughts (i.e. lingering), and this extended encoding opportunity is well-suited to facilitate memory consolidation. OBJECTIVES: Building off of promising pilot data, this proposal uses a variety of analytic approaches (e.g., natural language processing, machine learning and human functional magnetic resonance imaging), to accomplish three objectives: (1) characterize the relationship between deep processing and lingering, (2) determine the consequences of lingering on memory, and (3) establish a neural account for how lingering is implemented. IMPACT: Overall, the proposed work is significant to natural sciences and engineering in two key ways. First, it will deepen our understanding of learning and memory. Given our affinity for remembering narratives, stories provide a powerful window into how we remember optimally. Moreover, the goal of this proposal is to develop a mechanistic account of how and why we remember certain inputs better than others, and thus, the resulting empirical data will provide fertile ground for new and innovative computational models of human memory. Second, funding this proposal will allow me, an early-career scientist at one of the few bilingual post-secondary institutions in Ontario, to develop a productive research program that can promote the training of highly qualified Canadian personnel in experimental design, data analysis, and science communication.