False memories for shape activate the lateral occipital complex
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Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
Published on: November 14, 2018
Jessica M Karanian1, Scott D Slotnick1
1Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA.
Abstract:
Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence has shown that false memories arise from higher-level conscious processing regions rather than lower-level sensory processing regions. In the present study, we assessed whether the lateral occipital complex (LOC)-a lower-level conscious shape processing region-was associated with false memories for shape. During encoding, participants viewed intact or scrambled colored abstract shapes. During retrieval, colored disks were presented and participants indicated whether the corresponding item was previously "intact" or "scrambled." False memories for shape ("intact"/scrambled > "scrambled"/scrambled) activated LOC, which indicates lower-level sensory processing regions can support false memory.
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