Abdelmalek Benattayallah1, Fraser Milton2,
Nils Muhlert3, Chris Butler4, Adam Zeman
1Peninsula Medical School, Exeter,
Devon, United Kingdom; 2Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter,
Devon, United Kingdom; 3Peninsula Medical School, University of
Exeter, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom; 4University of Oxford
We
used an automatic camera, SenseCam, to create a recognition memory test for
real-life events. Using fMRI, participants classified images as strongly or
weakly remembered, strongly or weakly familiar or novel, 36 hours and 5-6
months after image acquisition. At 36 hours, diverse neocortical regions were
activated by recollected and familiar stimuli. There was increasing
activation in right hippocampus/ posterior parahippocampal gyrus (pPHG) with
increasing memory strength. Strong recollection elicited greater activity in
left posterior hippocampus/pPHG than weak recollection. At 5-6 months, MTL
activated for familiarity but not recollection memory. Neocortical regions
were recruited for both recollection and familiarity processes.