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Related Concept Videos

Sensory Memory01:14

Sensory Memory

Sensory memory captures information from the environment in its original form for a very brief duration, just long enough to be exposed to visual, auditory, and other senses. This type of memory is detailed and rich but quickly lost unless certain strategies are employed to transfer it into short-term or long-term memory. Sensory information is continuously bombarding the human brain, yet only a small fraction is absorbed, as most of it does not significantly impact daily life. For instance,...
Serial Position Effect01:03

Serial Position Effect

The serial position effect is a cognitive phenomenon where individuals are more likely to recall the first and last items in a list compared to those in the middle. This effect is divided into the primacy effect and the recency effect. The primacy effect is observed when the initial items in a list are remembered better. This occurs because these items are rehearsed more frequently or receive more elaborative processing, allowing them to be encoded into long-term memory more effectively. For...
Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory01:22

Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory

Improving short-term memory can be achieved through techniques like chunking and rehearsal. Chunking involves organizing information into larger, more manageable units. This technique is particularly useful for information that exceeds the typical memory span of between five and nine items. For instance, logging into an online account with a password like "ta89vq0179gz" involves grouping letters and numbers into three chunks—ta89, vq01, and 79gz. It makes large amounts of information more...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory01:26

Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

Memory is one of the most vital higher mental functions of the brain. Memory is closely related to learning because it enables us to retain information and experiences from our past to use them in our present life. It also helps us to remember facts, events, and skills, such as riding a bike or swimming. There are two types of memory — declarative memory, which involves memorizing facts or events, and procedural memory, which enables us to remember how to do something like writing or playing an...
Traumatic Memory01:20

Traumatic Memory

Emotionally traumatic events often lead to memories that are exceptionally vivid and enduring, sometimes persisting with remarkable clarity throughout an individual's life. A classic example of this phenomenon is a person who survives a car accident. Even years later, they may recall every detail of the event with startling accuracy — the screeching of the tires, the jarring impact, and the acrid smell of burning rubber. Such vividness contrasts sharply with how an individual remembers mundane...
Eyewitness Memory01:22

Eyewitness Memory

Eyewitness memory refers to the recollection of events by someone who has directly witnessed them, often serving as critical evidence in legal settings. This type of memory is commonly used in criminal cases where a witness describes details like a suspect's appearance, clothing, or behavior during a crime. However, despite its perceived reliability, eyewitness memory is prone to significant errors.
One such error is memory distortion, which occurs because human memory does not function like a...

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Related Experiment Video

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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
15:57

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

Prestimulus subsequent memory effects for auditory and visual events.

Leun J Otten1, Angela H Quayle, Bhamini Puvaneswaran

  • 1University College London (UCL), London, UK. l.otten@ucl.ac.uk

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
|July 9, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Pre-event brain activity, or prestimulus activity, is crucial for memory formation for both visual and auditory information. This preparatory neural activity is dynamically generated on each trial, aiding semantic processing and enhancing memory recall.

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Last Updated: Jun 21, 2026

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Published on: May 4, 2011

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Memory encoding was traditionally linked to neural activity during event perception.
  • Emerging evidence suggests that neural activity preceding an event also plays a significant role in memory formation.
  • The specific function and characteristics of this prestimulus activity remain largely undetermined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of prestimulus activity on the encoding of auditory and visual events.
  • To determine if prestimulus activity is established on a trial-by-trial basis.
  • To examine how prestimulus activity relates to different types of recognition memory judgments.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded electroencephalography (EEG) from 24 healthy adults performing semantic judgments on visual and auditory words.
  • Utilized modality-specific cues to signal upcoming word presentation.
  • Administered a recognition memory test with remember/know judgments after a 45-minute delay.

Main Results:

  • A prestimulus negative-going, frontally distributed brain activity modulation predicted subsequent word recollection, consistent with prior findings for visual stimuli.
  • This prestimulus activity effect was also observed for auditory words.
  • The effect was present regardless of whether the trial modality remained the same or switched, and was dynamically set up on each trial.

Conclusions:

  • Prestimulus neural activity plays a flexible and general role in memory formation across different sensory modalities.
  • This activity likely supports semantic preparation, contributing to enhanced memory encoding.
  • The findings suggest that prestimulus activity is updated dynamically on a trial-by-trial basis, especially in unpredictable sequences.