To remember a previous event, it is often helpful to use goal-directed control processes to constrain what comes to mind during retrieval. Behavioral studies have demonstrated that incidental learning of new “foil” words in a recognition test is superior if the participant is trying to remember studied items that were semantically encoded compared to items that were non-semantically encoded. Here, we applied subsequent memory analysis to fMRI data to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the “foil effect”. Participants encoded information during deep semantic and shallow non-semantic tasks and were tested in a subsequent blocked memory task to examine how orienting retrieval towards different types of information influences the incidental encoding of new words presented as foils during the memory test phase. To assess memory for foils, participants performed a further surprise old/new recognition test involving foil words that were encountered during the previous memory test blocks as well as completely new words. Subsequent memory effects, distinguishing successful versus unsuccessful incidental encoding of foils, were observed in regions that included the left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior parietal cortex. The left inferior frontal gyrus exhibited disproportionately larger subsequent memory effects for semantic than non-semantic foils, and significant overlap in activity during semantic, but not non-semantic, initial encoding and foil encoding. The results suggest that orienting retrieval towards different types of foils involves re-implementing the neurocognitive processes that were involved during initial encoding.

Research links the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) with a number of social cognitive processes that involve reflecting on oneself and other people. Here, we investigated how mPFC might support the ability to recollect information about oneself and others relating to previous experiences. Participants judged whether they had previously related stimuli conceptually to themselves or someone else, or whether they or another agent had performed actions. We uncovered a functional distinction between dorsal and ventral mPFC subregions based on information retrieved from episodic long-term memory. The dorsal mPFC was generally activated when participants attempted to retrieve social information about themselves and others, regardless of whether this information concerned the conceptual or agentic self or other. In contrast, a role was discerned for ventral mPFC during conceptual but not agentic self-referential recollection, indicating specific involvement in retrieving memories related to self-concept rather than bodily self. A subsequent recognition test for new items that had been presented during the recollection task found that conceptual and agentic recollection attempts resulted in differential incidental encoding of new information. Thus, we reveal converging fMRI and behavioral evidence for distinct neurocognitive forms of self-referential recollection, highlighting that conceptual and bodily aspects of self-reflection can be dissociated.

Hierarchical cognitive control enables us to execute actions guided by abstract goals. Previous research has suggested that neuronal oscillations at different frequency bands are associated with top-down cognitive control, however, whether distinct neural oscillations have similar or different functions for cognitive control is not well understood. The aim of the current study was to investigate the oscillatory neuronal mechanisms underlying two distinct components of hierarchical cognitive control: the level of abstraction of a rule, and the number of rules that must be maintained (set-size). We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data in 31 men and women who performed a hierarchical cognitive control task that varied in levels of abstraction and set-size. Results from time-frequency analysis in frontal electrodes showed an increase in theta amplitude for increased set-size, whereas an increase in delta was associated with increased abstraction. Both theta and delta amplitude correlated with behavioral performance in the tasks but in an opposite manner: theta correlated with response time slowing when the number of rules increased whereas delta correlated with response time when rules became more abstract. Phase amplitude coupling analysis revealed that delta phase coupled with beta amplitude during conditions with a higher level of abstraction, whereby beta band may potentially represent motor output that was guided by the delta phase. These results suggest that distinct neural oscillatory mechanisms underlie different components of hierarchical cognitive control. Riddle 4 Significance Statement Cognitive control allows us to perform immediate actions while maintaining more abstract, overarching goals in mind and to choose between competing actions. We found distinct oscillatory signatures that correspond to two different components of hierarchical control: the level of abstraction of a rule and the number of rules in competition. An increase in the level of abstraction was associated with delta oscillations, whereas theta oscillations were observed when the number of rules increased. Oscillatory amplitude correlated with behavioral performance in the task. Finally, the expression of beta amplitude was coordinated via the phase of delta oscillations, and theta phase coupled with gamma amplitude. These results suggest that distinct neural oscillatory mechanisms underlie different components of hierarchical cognitive control.

Research has shown that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) may be hierarchically organized along a rostral-caudal functional gradient such that control processing becomes progressively more abstract from caudal to rostral frontal regions. Here, we briefly review the most recent functional MRI, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological evidence in support of a hierarchical LPFC organization. We extend these observations by discussing how such a rostral-caudal gradient may also exist in the striatum and how the dopaminergic system may play an important role in the hierarchical organization of fronto-striatal loops. There is evidence indicating that a rostral-caudal gradient of dopamine receptor density may exist in both frontal and striatal regions. Here we formulate the hypothesis that dopamine may be an important neuromodulator in hierarchical processing, whereby frontal and striatal regions that have higher dopamine receptor density may have a larger influence over regions that exhibit lower dopamine receptor density. We conclude by highlighting directions for future research that will help elucidating the role dopamine might play in hierarchical frontal-striatal interactions.

People can employ adaptive strategies to increase the likelihood that previously encoded information will be successfully retrieved. One such strategy is to constrain retrieval toward relevant information by reimplementing the neurocognitive processes that were engaged during encoding. Using EEG, we examined the temporal dynamics with which constraining retrieval toward semantic versus nonsemantic information affects the processing of new “foil” information encountered during a memory test. Time–frequency analysis of EEG data acquired during an initial study phase revealed that semantic compared with nonsemantic processing was associated with alpha decreases in a left frontal electrode cluster from around 600 msec after stimulus onset. Successful encoding of semantic versus nonsemantic foils during a subsequent memory test was related to decreases in alpha oscillatory activity in the same left frontal electrode cluster, which emerged relatively late in the trial at around 1000–1600 msec after stimulus onset. Across participants, left frontal alpha power elicited by semantic processing during the study phase correlated significantly with left frontal alpha power associated with semantic foil encoding during the memory test. Furthermore, larger left frontal alpha power decreases elicited by semantic foil encoding during the memory test predicted better subsequent semantic foil recognition in an additional surprise foil memory test, although this effect did not reach significance. These findings indicate that constraining retrieval toward semantic information involves reimplementing semantic encoding operations that are mediated by alpha oscillations and that such reimplementation occurs at a late stage of memory retrieval, perhaps reflecting additional monitoring processes.