Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Sophie Allen and I am a junior at Florida State University, where I am pursuing a double major in Psychology and Biomathematics. My research interests are focused on the field of human cognition, specifically on memory, perception, and learning. After completing my undergraduate degree, I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. In graduate school, I intend to utilize a combination of neuroimaging, computational approaches, and behavioral data to answer my research questions and gain a deeper understanding of how the brain functions.

The neural basis of cognitive control in task-relevant memory retrieval

Abstract

The distinction between semantic and episodic memory as two separate long-term memory systems was first proposed in 1972 by Endel Tulving. This distinction is characterized by differences at the level of content; semantic memory reflects knowledge abstracted from multiple experiences whereas episodic memory reflects memory for specific moments. Cognitive neuroscience research studying how semantic and episodic memory are supported by the brain has traditionally focused on either one system or the other. However, an emerging line of evidence suggests this distinction is not as clear as once thought. Specifically, there are overlapping cognitive control mechanisms that aid in retrieval of semantic and episodic memory. Here, we investigated this overlap using functional magnetic resonance imaging to quantify brain activity in the frontal lobe while participants completed a semantic memory task and an episodic memory task. We contrasted measures of brain activity obtained from each task and found a posterior-to-anterior gradient of activity in the medial surface of the prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Specifically, the anterior extent of mPFC demonstrated greater activity during retrieval of semantic memory, whereas posterior mPFC demonstrated greater activity during retrieval of episodic memory. Our results provide evidence for a shared cognitive control process during the retrieval of semantic and episodic memory in the mPFC. Furthermore, greater activity observed in anterior mPFC during retrieval of semantic memory supports the idea that anterior regions in the frontal lobe guide more abstract cognitive control processing.

Keywords: fMRI, long-term memory, functional connectivity