The Temporal Signature of Memories: Identification of a General Mechanism for Dynamic Memory Replay in Humans

Sebastian Michelmann; Howard Bowman; Simon Hanslmayr

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002528

The Temporal Signature of Memories: Identification of a General Mechanism for Dynamic Memory Replay in Humans

Sebastian Michelmann, Howard Bowman, Simon Hanslmayr

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Reinstatement of dynamic memories requires the replay of neural patterns that unfold over time in a similar manner as during perception. However, little is known about the mechanisms that guide such a temporally structured replay in humans, because previous studies used either unsuitable methods or paradigms to address this question. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing a new analysis method to detect the replay of temporal patterns in a paradigm that requires participants to mentally replay short sound or video clips. We show that memory reinstatement is accompanied by a decrease of low-frequency (8 Hz) power, which carries a temporal phase signature of the replayed stimulus. These replay effects were evident in the visual as well as in the auditory domain and were localized to sensory-specific regions. These results suggest low-frequency phase to be a domain-general mechanism that orchestrates dynamic memory replay in humans.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e1002528
Journal	PLoS biology
Volume	14
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002528
State	Published - Aug 5 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neuroscience(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Immunology and Microbiology(all)
Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)

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abstract = "Reinstatement of dynamic memories requires the replay of neural patterns that unfold over time in a similar manner as during perception. However, little is known about the mechanisms that guide such a temporally structured replay in humans, because previous studies used either unsuitable methods or paradigms to address this question. Here, we overcome these limitations by developing a new analysis method to detect the replay of temporal patterns in a paradigm that requires participants to mentally replay short sound or video clips. We show that memory reinstatement is accompanied by a decrease of low-frequency (8 Hz) power, which carries a temporal phase signature of the replayed stimulus. These replay effects were evident in the visual as well as in the auditory domain and were localized to sensory-specific regions. These results suggest low-frequency phase to be a domain-general mechanism that orchestrates dynamic memory replay in humans.",

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The Temporal Signature of Memories: Identification of a General Mechanism for Dynamic Memory Replay in Humans

Abstract

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