Replay of Stimulus-specific Temporal Patterns during Associative Memory Formation

J Cogn Neurosci. 2018 Nov;30(11):1577-1589. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01304. Epub 2018 Jul 13.

Abstract

Forming a memory often entails the association of recent experience with present events. This recent experience is usually an information-rich and dynamic representation of the world around us. We here show that associating a static cue with a previously shown dynamic stimulus yields a detectable, dynamic representation of this stimulus. We further implicate this representation in the decrease of low-frequency power (∼4-30 Hz) in the ongoing EEG, which is a well-known correlate of successful memory formation. The reappearance of content-specific patterns in desynchronizing brain oscillations was observed in two sensory domains, that is, in a visual condition and in an auditory condition. Together with previous results, these data suggest a mechanism that generalizes across domains and processes, in which the decrease in oscillatory power allows for the dynamic representation of information in ongoing brain oscillations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation / methods
  • Adult
  • Association Learning / physiology*
  • Auditory Perception / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography* / methods
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation / methods
  • Time Factors
  • Visual Perception / physiology*
  • Young Adult