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Abstract: The hippocampus is considered pivotal to recall, allowing retrieval of information not available in the immediate environment. In contrast, neocortex is thought to signal familiarity, contributing to recall only when recruited by the hippocampus. However, this view is not compatible with representational accounts of memory, which reject the mapping of cognitive processes onto brain regions. According to representational accounts, the hippocampus is not engaged by recall per se, rather it is engaged whenever hippocampal representations are required. To test whether the hippocampus is engaged by recall when hippocampal representations are not required, we used functional imaging and a non-associative recall task, with images (of objects or scenes) studied in isolation, and image patches as cues. As predicted by a representational account, hippocampal activation was modulated by the content of the recalled memory, increasing during recall of scenes—which are known to be represented by hippocampal activation—but not during recall of objects. Object recall instead engaged neocortical regions known for object-processing. Next, we tested this account in older adults, in whom hippocampal function is often compromised relative to younger adults. Using the same patch-cued recall task, older adults were more impaired at scene recall than object recall, relative to younger adults. Thus, according to both the neuroimaging results and the memory performance of older adults, engagement of the hippocampus during recall is not mandatory, but depends on the content of the memory.

Bio: Rosie received her BA from the University of Cambridge, UK, and her PhD from the University of Oxford, UK. From 2013-2022 she served on the faculty of UMass Amherst, and she is now Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience in the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is visiting the University of Bristol for the academic year 2022-2023. Rosie is trained in computational cognitive neuroscience, animal neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, and fMRI. Her research interests include the neural and cognitive mechanisms of visual perception and memory in the human brain, including the effects of age and neurological disorders on cognition. She is also interested in developing novel methodologies for cognitive neuroscience research, particularly involving computational and mathematical modeling approaches.