Evidence that neural information flow is reversed between object perception and object reconstruction from memory

Remembering is a reconstructive process, yet little is known about how the reconstruction of a memory unfolds in time in the human brain. Here, we used reaction times and EEG time-series decoding to test the hypothesis that the information flow is reversed when an event is reconstructed from memory,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2019-01, Vol.10 (1), p.179-179, Article 179
Main Authors: Linde-Domingo, Juan, Treder, Matthias S., Kerrén, Casper, Wimber, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/116/2394
631/378/1595/2167
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Activity patterns
Adult
Associative memory
Brain
Brain - physiology
Decoding
EEG
Electroencephalography
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Information flow
Male
Memory
Mental Recall - physiology
Models, Neurological
multidisciplinary
Multilayers
Pattern recognition
Reaction Time
Recognition, Psychology - physiology
Reconstruction
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Young Adult
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Summary:Remembering is a reconstructive process, yet little is known about how the reconstruction of a memory unfolds in time in the human brain. Here, we used reaction times and EEG time-series decoding to test the hypothesis that the information flow is reversed when an event is reconstructed from memory, compared to when the same event is initially being perceived. Across three experiments, we found highly consistent evidence supporting such a reversed stream. When seeing an object, low-level perceptual features were discriminated faster behaviourally, and could be decoded from brain activity earlier, than high-level conceptual features. This pattern reversed during associative memory recall, with reaction times and brain activity patterns now indicating that conceptual information was reconstructed more rapidly than perceptual details. Our findings support a neurobiologically plausible model of human memory, suggesting that memory retrieval is a hierarchical, multi-layered process that prioritises semantically meaningful information over perceptual details. Little is known about how the reconstruction of a memory unfolds in time in the human brain. Here, the authors provide evidence that the process of reconstructing the memory of an object involves a reversal of the information flow involved in the actual perception of that object.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-08080-2