Top-down task goals induce the retrieval state

Engaging the retrieval state (Tulving, 1983) impacts processing and behavior (Long & Kuhl, 2019, 2021; Smith, Moore, & Long, 2022), but the extent to which top-down factors - explicit instructions and goals - vs. bottom-up factors - stimulus properties such as repetition and similarity - jointly or independently induce the retrieval state is unclear. Identifying the impact of bottom-up and top-down factors on retrieval state engagement is critical for understanding how control of task-relevant vs. task-irrelevant brain states influence cognition. We conducted between-subjects recognition memory tasks on male and female human participants in which we varied test phase goals. We recorded scalp electroencephalography and used an independently validated mnemonic state classifier (Long, 2023) to measure retrieval state engagement as a function of top-down task goals (recognize old vs. detect new items) and bottom-up stimulus repetition (hits vs. correct rejections). We find that whereas the retrieval state is engaged for hits regardless of top-down goals, the retrieval state is only engaged during correct rejections when the top-down goal is to recognize old items. Furthermore, retrieval state engagement is greater for low compared to high confidence hits when the task goal is to recognize old items. Together, these results suggest that top-down demands to recognize old items induce the retrieval state independent from bottom-up factors, potentially reflecting the recruitment of internal attention to enable access of a stored representation.

Both top-down goals and automatic bottom-up influences may lead us into a retrieval brain state - a whole-brain pattern of activity that supports our ability to remember the past. Here we tested the extent to which top-down vs. bottom-up factors independently influence the retrieval state by manipulating participants' goals and stimulus repetition during a memory test. We find that in response to the top-down goal to recognize old items, the retrieval state is engaged for both old and new probes, suggesting that top-down and bottom-up factors independently engage the retrieval state. Our interpretation is that top-down demands recruit internal attention in service of the attempt to access a stored representation.