Context-dependent memory effects in two immersive virtual reality environments: On Mars and underwater

Shin, Yeon Soon; Masís-Obando, Rolando; Keshavarzian, Neggin; Dáve, Riya; Norman, Kenneth A.

doi:10.3758/s13423-020-01835-3

Cited by 41 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The more vivid the retrieved memory is, the better effect of intervention during the reconsolidation should be. A prominent advantage of VR in memory reactivation is the sense of presence generated by interactive, diverse cues presented in immersive and vivid scenarios ( 95 , 96 ). MA-dependent patients are more likely to re-experience their drug-related episodic memories and generate MA cravings encountering drug-related cues and context in VR ( 95 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theta-Burst Stimulation Combined With Virtual-Reality Reconsolidation Intervention for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized-Controlled Trial

Wen

Hao²,

Chen³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundCraving associated with drug-related memory is one of the key factors that induce the relapse of methamphetamine (MA). Disruption or modulation of the reconsolidation of drug-related memory may serve as an option for clinical treatment of MA addiction. This protocol proposes to use virtual reality (VR) to retrieve drug-associated memory and then use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the neural circuit that encodes the reward value of drug cues to provide a non-invasive intervention during reconsolidation. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of TMS treatment after VR retrieval on the reduction of cue reactivity and craving of MA.MethodsThis is a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel group trial, targeting participants with MA use disorder aged from 18 to 45 years old. Forty-five eligible volunteers in Shanxi Drug Rehabilitation Center will be recruited and be randomly allocated into three parallel groups, receiving either 1) MA-related cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (MA VR scene + TBS) or 2) sham TMS (MA VR scene + sham TBS), or 3) neutral cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (neutral VR scene + TBS). Two sessions of post-VR-retrieval TBS will be scheduled on two separate days within 1 week. The primary outcome will detect the memory-related activity by the electroencephalography (EEG) reactivity to drug cues in VR scenes. Secondary outcomes are the self-reported MA craving in VR scene, the physiological parameter (cue-induced heart rate) and the scores of psychological questionnaires including anxiety, depression, and mood. All primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month post-intervention. Assessments will be compared between the groups of 1) MA VR scene + TBS, 2) MA VR scene + sham TBS and 3) neutral VR scene + TBS.DiscussionThis will be the first study to examine whether the TMS modulation after VR retrieval can reduce self-reported craving and drug-related cue reactivity. It will promote the understanding of the neural circuit mechanism of the reconsolidation-based intervention and provide an effective treatment for MA use disorder patients.Clinical Trial Registration[Chinese Clinical Trial Registry], identifier [ChiCTR1900026902]. Registered on 26 October 2019.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theta-Burst Stimulation Combined With Virtual-Reality Reconsolidation Intervention for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized-Controlled Trial

Wen

Hao²,

Chen³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychiatry

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“…Finally, recent work has shown that the relevance of an environmental context to the information being learnt in that context is consequential for that information's memorability. 17 In our task the relationship of the contexts to the languages and vocabulary being learnt was completely arbitrary. Future studies may confer memory advantages if language learning occurs in VR-based replicas of familiar real-world environments where that language would actually be useful (e.g., learning fruit vocabulary while navigating through the produce section of a grocery store).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 Virtual reality (VR) offers a powerful means to create immersive learning environments that are highly distinctive and well-controlled, in order to examine and exploit context-based memory modulation. 15,16 Indeed, one recent study used two distinctive VR-based contexts-one underwater and one on the surface of Mars 17 -to conceptually replicate Godden & Baddeley's classic finding of context-dependent recall. When using VR environments as contexts, it is valuable to measure participants' sense of presence, [18][19][20][21] which refers to their sense of experiencing a VR-based environment as a place that one has actually inhabited, rather than something that one was merely watching passively (e.g., "I feel like I am in this space station, walking around," vs "I am watching this space station on a screen while sitting in a lab.").…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Learning and Retention with Distinctive Virtual Reality Environments and Mental Context Reinstatement

Essoe¹,

Reggente²,

Ohno³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Memory is inherently context-dependent: internal and environmental cues become bound to learnt information, and the later absence of these cues can impair recall. Here, we developed a novel approach to leverage context-dependence to optimise learning of challenging, interference-prone material. While navigating through virtual reality (VR) contexts, participants learnt 80 foreign words in two phonetically similar languages. Those participants who learnt each language in its own unique context showed reduced interference and improved one-week retention (92%), relative to those who learnt the languages in the same context (76%)—however, this advantage was only apparent if participants subjectively experienced VR-based contexts as “real” environments. A follow-up fMRI study confirmed that reinstatement of brain activity patterns associated with the original encoding context during word retrieval was associated with improved recall performance. These findings establish that context-dependence can be harnessed with VR to optimise learning and showcase the important role of mental context reinstatement.

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“…The classical contextual dependence of memory describes the phenomenon that retrieving information is easier in the same extrinsic context as it was encoded (Cairney et al, 2011;Godden & Baddeley, 1975;McKenzie & Tiberghien, 2004;Smith, 1979;Smith et al, 1978). The pioneering work of Godden & Baddeley (1975), tested memories in two extremely different contexts (divers learned on dry land and underwater) and showed significantly better memory at recall when the external context of encoding and recall was the same (for recent replication attempts, see Murre, 2021;Shin et al, 2021). Smith (1979) worked on the question whether the familiarity of a context rather than the learning occurring in that context improved retrieval.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfamiliar Contexts Compared to Familiar Contexts Impair Learning in Humans

Asfestani¹,

Tkotz²,

Beer³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Context plays a key role in learning and memory processes. Re-exposure to the context that information was learned in facilitates memory retrieval of this information. However, it is currently unclear whether context changes also influence the ability to learn new information, which the present work investigated in two experiments with healthy participants (n = 40 per experiment; 20 female). In experiment 1, participants learned a list of word-pairs (A-B) in the morning and a second non-overlapping list (C-D) in the evening, either in the same context or in a different context than the first list (between-subjects). We confirmed that new learning is enhanced if it takes place in the same context, putatively driven by context-dependent retrieval of meta-learning processes. In addition, new learning in the other context was significantly decreased compared to baseline. In experiment 2, participants were exposed to both contexts in the morning, but only learned word-pairs in one of them. Familiarity with the other context abolished differences between the same and other context group. These data point to the novelty of the context interfering with new learning rather than the familiarity of the context enhancing it. Importantly, the reduction of new learning in the other context in the first experiment, where the context was unfamiliar in both learning sessions, suggests mechanisms beyond attention processes that are bound by the novelty of the other context. Rather, the old context impairs the processing of the new context, possibly by biasing pattern completion and pattern separation trade-offs within the hippocampus.

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Context-dependent memory effects in two immersive virtual reality environments: On Mars and underwater

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

Theta-Burst Stimulation Combined With Virtual-Reality Reconsolidation Intervention for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized-Controlled Trial

Theta-Burst Stimulation Combined With Virtual-Reality Reconsolidation Intervention for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized-Controlled Trial

Enhancing Learning and Retention with Distinctive Virtual Reality Environments and Mental Context Reinstatement

Unfamiliar Contexts Compared to Familiar Contexts Impair Learning in Humans

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