Inhibitory Control and Selective Encoding into Long-term Memory

描述(由申请者提供)：以目标导向的方式集中思考的能力关键取决于我们忽视或抑制当前无关信息的能力。然而，这种抑制机制的实施往往与随后被忽略的信息的成本相关。本研究的主要目的是调查在编码新记忆的过程中是否招募了抑制机制，并明确了抑制作用于调节记忆的神经机制。先前的研究已经证实，记忆编码依赖于注意力控制机制，该机制被用来选择要记住的环境的哪些方面。虽然信息加工的注意力调制通常被认为是通过提高被关注流的“增益”来完成的，但注意力控制也可以通过抑制机制来实现，该抑制机制将注意力从当前不相关的处理流中排除出去。拟议的多模式研究计划将依靠行为、功能磁共振成像和经颅磁刺激方法来(A)探讨注意在编码过程中是否至少部分参与了对无关信息的抑制，以及(B)描述前额叶和顶叶机制对记忆抑制调制的贡献。公共卫生相关性：通过增加成功编码所涉及的注意机制的详细说明，我们可以希望更好地了解一些患者群体(例如，精神分裂症、注意力缺陷多动障碍、帕金森病、阿尔茨海默病和正常衰老的个体)注意力和记忆功能障碍的性质和后果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to focus thought in a goal-directed manner depends critically on our ability to ignore or inhibit currently irrelevant information. The implementation of such inhibitory mechanisms, however, is often associated with subsequent costs for the ignored information. The primary goals of this research are to investigate whether inhibitory mechanisms are recruited during the encoding of new memories and to specify the neural mechanisms through which inhibition serves to modulate memory. Prior research has established that memory encoding depends on attentional control mechanisms that are engaged to select which aspects of the environment are to be remembered. While attentional modulation of information processing is typically thought to be accomplished by turning up the "gain" for attended streams, attentional control could also be accomplished through inhibitory mechanisms that gate out distraction from currently irrelevant processing streams. The proposed multi-modal research program will rely on behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation methods to (a) address whether the role of attention during encoding is involved, at least in part, in the inhibition of irrelevant information, and (b) delineate the contributions of prefrontal and parietal lobe mechanisms to inhibitory modulations of memory. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Through increased specification of the attentional mechanisms involved in successful encoding, we can hope to better understand the nature and consequences of attention and memory dysfunction in a number of patient populations (e.g., individuals with schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and normal aging).