Context Effects and the use of Relational Information in Recognition Memory

Monkeys Recall and Reproduce Simple Shapes from Memory

SummaryThe neural responses that distinguish novel from familiar items in recognition memory tasks are remarkably fast in both humans and nonhuman primates. In humans, the earliest onsets of neural novelty effects emerge at about ∼150–200 ms after stimulus onset [1–5]. However, in recognition memory studies with nonhuman primates, novelty effects can arise at as early as 70–80 ms [6, 7]. Here, we address the possibility that this large species difference in onset latencies is caused experimentally by the necessity of using reward reinforcement to motivate the detection of novel or familiar items in nonhuman primates but not in humans. Via magnetoencephalography in humans, we show in two experiments that the onset of neural novelty signals is accelerated from ∼200 ms to ∼85 ms if correct recognition memory for either novel or familiar items is rewarded. Importantly, this acceleration is independent of whether the detection of the novel or the familiar scenes is rewarded. Furthermore, this early novelty effect contributed to memory retrieval because neural reward responses, which were contingent upon novelty detection, followed ∼100 ms later. Thus, under the contextual influence of reward motivation, behaviorally relevant novelty signals emerge much faster than previously held possible in humans.

Objective: It is commonly thought that memory deficits in frontal patients are a result of impairments in executive functions which impact upon storage and retrieval processes. Yet, few studies have specifically examined the relationship between memory performance and executive functions in frontal patients. Furthermore, the contribution of more general cognitive processes such as fluid intelligence and demographic factors such as age, education, and premorbid intelligence has not been considered.Method: Our study examined the relationship between recall and recognition memory and performance on measures of fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence in 39 frontal patients and 46 healthy controls.Results: Recall memory impairments in frontal patients were strongly correlated with fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence. These factors were all found to be independent predictors of recall performance, with fluid intelligence being the strongest predictor. In contrast, recognition memory impairments were not related to any of these factors. Furthermore, age and education were not significantly correlated with either recall or recognition memory measures.Conclusion: Our findings show that recall memory in frontal patients was related to fluid intelligence, executive functions and premorbid intelligence. In contrast, recognition memory was not. These findings suggest that recall and recognition memory deficits following frontal injury arise from separable cognitive factors. Recognition memory tests may be more useful when assessing memory functions in frontal patients.

Introduction: Memory impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized mainly by impaired recall with preserved recognition. Despite its clinical importance, there are only a limited number of simple bedside memory tests that can assess both recall and recognition memory together, and that can also be used to detect the neuroanatomical changes in PD. To address this issue, we examined whether a simple memory test that can evaluate both recall and recognition memory can detect cortical abnormalities related to memory impairment in PD. Methods: We designed a composite recall and recognition memory score using the Mini-Mental Statement Examination to reflect recall and recognition memory. We assessed memory impairment in 210 patients with PD using this test and investigated the neuroanatomical correlations with the test results. Results: This simple memory test showed that recognition memory was generally preserved in PD, and furthermore, the test results were significantly correlated with atrophy of the limbic and frontal cortices. Conclusions: Adding recognition evaluation to a simple memory test can detect abnormalities in memory-related brain regions in PD.

These experiments investigated the involvement of several temporal lobe regions in consolidation of recognition memory. Anisomycin, a protein synthesis inhibitor, was infused into the hippocampus, perirhinal cortex, insular cortex, or basolateral amygdala of rats immediately after the sample phase of object or object-in-context recognition memory training. Anisomycin infused into perirhinal or insular cortices blocked long-term (24 h), but not short-term (90 min) object recognition memory. Infusions into the hippocampus or amygdala did not impair object recognition memory. Anisomycin infused into the hippocampus blocked long-term, but not short-term object-in-context recognition memory, whereas infusions administered into the perirhinal cortex, insular cortex, or amygdala did not affect object-in-context recognition memory. These results clearly indicate that distinct regions of the temporal lobe are differentially involved in long-term object and object-in-context recognition memory. Whereas perirhinal and insular cortices are required for consolidation of familiar objects, the hippocampus is necessary for consolidation of contextual information of recognition memory. Altogether, these results suggest that temporal lobe structures are differentially involved in recognition memory consolidation.

In order to examine the relation between recognition memory and priming effects, we have tracked the recovery of recognition memory and word completion ability during the hours after individual treatment given as part of a prescribed course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Recognition memory was tested by a three-alternative, forced-choice method. In the word completion test, the initial letters of previously presented words were given as cues, and subjects were asked to complete each cue to form the first word that came to mind. Patients receiving bilateral ECT markedly improved their recognition memory performance 45 min to 9 hr after treatment. Word completion performance was normal at 45 min after treatment and did not change thereafter. Despite exhibiting normal priming effects, patients prescribed bilateral ECT scored at chance levels on recognition tests given 45 min after treatment. These findings support the view that recognition memory and priming are independent memory processes, and they suggest that the processes that support priming make little if any contribution to recognition memory. The results are considered in terms of neuropsychological evidence from amnesic patients for the existence of multiple memory systems.

Recall and recognition memory in patients with focal frontal, temporal lobe and diencephalic lesions

Older adults often demonstrate a monitoring deficit by producing more high-confidence memory errors on recognition memory tests. To eliminate lower memory performance by older adults (OA) as a candidate explanation, we studied how distinctive encoding enhances the retrieval-monitoring accuracy in older adults and younger adults (YA) under different delays (2-day delay for OA, 7-day delay for YA). Individuals viewed items consisting of four randomly selected exemplars (e.g., SALMON, BASS, PERCH, and SHARK) from a taxonomic category (e.g., FISH), one being designated as the to-be-remembered target. Participants were randomly assigned to two encoding conditions: Shared (generate a shared feature of all exemplars, e.g., GILLS) or Distinctive (generate a distinctive feature of the designated target). We collected retrospective confidence judgments (RCJs) after a five-alternative forced-choice (5AFC) recognition test, with the lures being either previously presented (old) exemplars or new category exemplars. Recall and recognition memory were better with distinctive encoding, with shared feature generation producing more high-confidence false alarms (HCFAs). Distinctive encoding dramatically reduced HCFAs and improved RCJ resolution. Comparison of OA with 2-day delay YA revealed age differences in HCFA consistent with previous studies. As important, age differences in memory for OA and 7-day delay YA were minimized, eliminating age deficits in HCFAs. Matching OAs to a subset of 7-day delay YAs on recognition memory produced additional evidence favoring the null hypothesis of age-equivalence in HCFAs. The results therefore indicated that age differences in recognition-based retrieval monitoring in a forced-choice recognition test are an epiphenomenon of age differences in memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Context effects in recognition memory: The role of familiarity and recollection

miRNAs may regulate GABAergic transmission associated genes in aged rats with anesthetics-induced recognition and working memory dysfunction

Context and repetition effects in lexical decision and recognition memory

Repetition priming has been shown to be independent of recognition memory. Thus, the severely amnesic patient E.P. has demonstrated intact stem completion priming and perceptual identification priming, despite at-chance performance on recognition memory tasks. It has also been shown that perceptual fluency can influence feelings of familiarity, in the sense that items perceived more quickly tend to be identified as familiar. If studied items are identified more fluently, due to perceptual priming, and fluency leads to familiarity, why do severely amnesic patients perform no better than chance on recognition memory tasks? One possibility is that severely amnesic patients do not exhibit normal fluency. Another possibility is that fluency is not a sufficiently strong cue for familiarity. In two experiments, 2 severely amnesic patients, 3 moderately amnesic patients, and 8 controls saw words slowly clearing from a mask. The participants identified each word as quickly as possible and then made a recognition (old/new) judgment. All the participants exhibited fluency, in that old responses were associated with shorter identification times than new responses were. In addition, for the severely amnesic patients, priming was intact, and recognition memory performance was at chance. We next calculated how much priming and fluency should elevate the probability of accurate recognition. The tendency to identify studied words rapidly (.6) and the tendency to label these rapidly identified words old (.6) would result in 36% of the studied words being labeled old. Other studied words were identified slowly (.4) but were still labeled old (.4), resulting in an additional 16% of studied words labeled old. Thus, the presence of fluency increases the probability of accurate recognition judgments to only 52% (chance = 50%). This finding explains why amnesic patients can exhibit both priming and fluency yet still perform at chance on recognition tests.

Contextual affective information can influence recognition memory. However, the influence of the order of this information on memory has rarely been studied. To investigate this, a series of faces were shown along with contextual person-based information. Each face was shown twice, manipulating the order of the affective contextual information: (1) emotional then neutral, (2) neutral then emotional, or (3) neutral and then neutral. The first study included negative contextual information and the second included positive information. One week later a recognition test was given for the faces. In both the negative study and the positive study, recognition memory was uninfluenced by condition, suggesting that the order in which affective information is presented is largely irrelevant. Further, exploratory Bayesian analyses revealed that faces paired with the highest arousal sentences at encoding were the least likely to be recognized at retrieval, which may represent a biasing of attention towards the high-arousal sentence and away from the low-arousal face.

The impact of post-learning sleep vs. wakefulness on recognition memory for faces with different facial expressions

Ketamine administration has been associated with controversial behavioural impairments and psychotic episodes. Even though ketamine alone and in combination with midazolam or dexmedetomidine are frequently used in laboratory animals, the side-effects of such protocols are not well known. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the effects of ketamine alone and in combination with midazolam or dexmedetomidine on emotional reactivity, as well as the effects on learning and memory in adult rats at least 48 h after anaesthesia. The evaluation of the potential influence of 100 mg/kg ketamine administered alone and in combination with midazolam (5 mg/kg), or dexmedetomidine (0.25 mg/kg) on spatial learning and recognition memory was studied in adult Wistar rats using the radial maze as well as object recognition and location tests. The influence of these combinations on emotional reactivity was investigated using the new exploration test and the elevated plus maze. Results showed that ketamine alone or in combination with midazolam or dexmedetomidine affected neither spatial and recognition memory, nor emotional reactivity. These results reinforce the safe clinical use of ketamine and its combinations in rats in a research context since the administration of these anaesthetic combinations did not produce significant changes with regard to spatial and recognition memory or emotional reactivity. Furthermore, these results indicate that the quality of scientific data produced in adult rat neurobehavioural research is not jeopardized by the use of these anaesthetic protocols.