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Updated: Sep 4, 2025

Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to Measure Set-Specific Capture, a Consequence of Distraction While Multitasking
Published on: August 29, 2018
Tag and capture: how salient experiences target and rescue nearby events in memory
Joseph E Dunsmoor1, Vishnu P Murty2, David Clewett3
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Abstract:
The long-term fate of a memory is not exclusively determined by the events occurring at the moment of encoding. Research at the cellular, circuit, and behavioral levels is beginning to reveal how neurochemical activations in the moments surrounding an event can retroactively and proactively rescue weak memory for seemingly mundane experiences. We review emerging evidence showing enhancement of weakly formed memories encoded minutes to hours before or after a related motivationally relevant experience. We discuss proposed neurobiological mechanisms for strengthening weak memories formed in temporal proximity to a strong event, and how this knowledge could be leveraged to improve memory for information that is prone to forgetting.
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