Varying demands for cognitive control reveals shared neural processes supporting semantic and episodic memory retrieval

TY - JOUR

T1 - Varying demands for cognitive control reveals shared neural processes supporting semantic and episodic memory retrieval

AU - Vatansever, Deniz

AU - Smallwood, Jonathan

AU - Jefferies, Elizabeth

N1 - Funding Information: We thank all staff at the York Neuroimaging Centre for their assistance with MRI scanning. This study was supported by the European Research Council (Project ID: 646927). Additionally, DV was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31950410541), the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (No. 2018SHZDZX01), and ZJLab. The icons in Fig. 1 are based on resources from Flaticon.com. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/4/9

Y1 - 2021/4/9

N2 - The categorisation of long-term memory into semantic and episodic systems has been an influential catalyst for research on human memory organisation. However, the impact of variable cognitive control demands on this classical distinction remains to be elucidated. Across two independent experiments, here we directly compare neural processes for the controlled versus automatic retrieval of semantic and episodic memory. In a multi-session functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, we first identify a common cluster of cortical activity centred on the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior insular cortex for the retrieval of both weakly-associated semantic and weakly-encoded episodic memory traces. In an independent large-scale individual difference study, we further reveal a common neural circuitry in which reduced functional interaction between the identified cluster and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a default mode network hub, is linked to better performance across both memory types. Our results provide evidence for shared neural processes supporting the controlled retrieval of information from functionally distinct long-term memory systems.

AB - The categorisation of long-term memory into semantic and episodic systems has been an influential catalyst for research on human memory organisation. However, the impact of variable cognitive control demands on this classical distinction remains to be elucidated. Across two independent experiments, here we directly compare neural processes for the controlled versus automatic retrieval of semantic and episodic memory. In a multi-session functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, we first identify a common cluster of cortical activity centred on the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior insular cortex for the retrieval of both weakly-associated semantic and weakly-encoded episodic memory traces. In an independent large-scale individual difference study, we further reveal a common neural circuitry in which reduced functional interaction between the identified cluster and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a default mode network hub, is linked to better performance across both memory types. Our results provide evidence for shared neural processes supporting the controlled retrieval of information from functionally distinct long-term memory systems.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104134285&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-22443-2

DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-22443-2

M3 - Article

C2 - 33837220

AN - SCOPUS:85104134285

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 12

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 2134

ER -