Understanding episodic memory dynamics: Retrieval and updating mechanisms revealed by fMRI and tDCS

作者：Dong‐ni Pan, CuiZhu Lin, Xin Ma, Oliver T. Wolf, Gui Xue, Xuebing Li · 发表于：NeuroImage · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121170 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Memory and Neural Mechanisms、Neural dynamics and brain function、Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

• Distinct neural patterns distinguish memory preservation and degradation. • The engagement of the frontoparietal and cingulate networks facilitates the retention of original memories. • Weak conflict control, coupled with intensified visual integration processing of interfering information, promotes the updating of these original memories. • The visual cortex plays a pivotal role in memory modification within the framework of post-retrieval updating. • Utilizing high-precision tDCS to target the visual cortex during the memory retrieval interference phase can facilitate memory modification. This study investigates brain mechanisms in memory preservation and alteration using a three-phase design: memory encoding (Day 1), interference under fMRI (Day 2), and testing (Day 3). Thirty-one participants completed the core experiment, supplemented by a tDCS study ( n = 118) targeting the visual cortex. Original memories were more susceptible to incorrect updating during old-background/new-object interference compared to relearning and no-retrieval conditions. Interference trials elicited heightened activation in the Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL), Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC), and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Gyrus (dACC) versus no-retrieval controls, and increased frontoparietal and Occipital Fusiform Gyrus (OFG) activation versus relearning. Analyzing interference trials by Day 3 outcomes revealed preserved memories correlated with stronger cingulo-opercular and frontopariet...