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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Memory trace stabilization leads to large-scale changes in the retrieval network: a functional MRI study on

Atsuko Takashima¹, Ingrid L C Nieuwenhuis, Mark Rijpkema

¹FC Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. atsuko.takashima@fcdonders.ru.nl

Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)

|July 12, 2007

Summary

Spaced learning stabilizes memory traces. Functional MRI revealed that retrieving stabilized memories, compared to labile ones, involves faster recall and distinct brain network activity, particularly in the precuneus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

Published on: August 15, 2010

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Published on: August 26, 2011

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

Spaced learning enhances memory consolidation and trace stability.
Neural mechanisms underlying memory stabilization in humans remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural correlates of stabilized versus labile memory retrieval using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).
To contrast brain activity patterns during the recall of face-location associations learned through massed versus spaced learning schedules.

Main Methods:

fMRI was employed to compare brain activity during cued recall of well-learned face-location associations.
Two conditions were contrasted: massed learning (labile memory) and spaced learning over one week (stabilized memory).

Main Results:

Retrieval of stabilized associations was faster than labile ones, despite equal recall performance.
Stabilized memory retrieval showed increased activation in the precuneus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, temporal poles, and temporo-parietal junction.
Memory representational areas (fusiform gyrus, posterior parietal cortex) showed no change in activity with stabilization.

Conclusions:

Memory stabilization involves large-scale network changes rather than alterations in primary memory representation areas.
Increased precuneus activity may relate to the spatial component of memory, while ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation suggests a role in linking distributed neocortical representations for stabilized memory retrieval.