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Brain Functional Correlates of Episodic Memory Using an Ecological Free Recall Task
oleh: Francesco Neri, Stefano F. Cappa, Lucia Mencarelli, Davide Momi, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Simone Rossi
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-07-01 |
Deskripsi
Episodic Memory (EM) allows us to revive a past event through mental time-travel. The neural correlates of memories recollection have been identified in hippocampal regions and multiple neocortical areas, but few neuroimaging studies have used an ecological task such as a free recall of a structured story. Using an ecological fMRI-free recall (FR) task, we aimed to investigate the relevant recruitment of the brain networks associated with the story recollection process and its performance. Fourteen healthy participants listened to a brief story and were tested for Immediate-Recall (IR), a task that is widely used in a neuropsychological evaluation. Then, the subjects underwent an fMRI session, where they had to perform a free recall (FR) of the story subvocally. Finally, the participants were tested for Delayed-Recall (DR). IR and DR scores were significantly (<i>r</i> = 0.942; <i>p</i> < 0.001) correlated. FR enhanced the activity of the Language, the Left Executive Control, the Default Mode and the Precuneus brain networks, with the strongest BOLD signal localized in the left Angular Gyrus (AG) (<i>p</i> < 0.05; FWE-corrected). Furthermore, the story recall performance covaried with specific network activation patterns and the recruitment of the left anterior/posterior AG correlated, respectively, with higher/lower performance scores (<i>p</i> > 0.05). FR seems to be a promising task to investigate ecologically the neural correlates of EM. Moreover, the recruitment of the anterior AG might be a marker for an optimal functioning of the recall process. Preliminary outcomes lay the foundation for the investigation of the brain networks in the healthy and pathological elderly population during FR.