Title
Brain oscillations track the formation of episodic memories in the real world.
Abstract
Despite the well-known influence of environmental context on episodic memory, little has been done to increase contextual richness within the lab. This leaves a blind spot lingering over the neuronal correlates of episodic memory formation in day-to-day life. To address this, we presented participants with a series of words to memorise along a pre-designated route across campus while a mobile EEG system acquired ongoing neural activity. Replicating lab-based subsequent memory effects (SMEs), we identified significant low to mid frequency power decreases (<30Hz), including beta power decreases over the left inferior frontal gyrus. When investigating the oscillatory correlates of temporal and spatial context binding, we found that items strongly bound to spatial context exhibited significantly greater theta power decreases than items strongly bound to temporal context. These findings expand upon lab-based studies by demonstrating the influence of real world contextual factors that underpin memory formation.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.09.021
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
Episodic memory,Context,Oscillations,Mobile electroencephalography
Semantic memory,Episodic memory,Communication,Psychology,Cognitive psychology,Blind spot,Neural activity,Genetics,Electroencephalography,Left inferior frontal gyrus,Temporal lobe
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
143
1053-8119
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Benjamin Griffiths100.34
Ali Mazaheri2475.41
Stefan Debener311311.00
Simon Hanslmayr416718.44