Dissociable Neural Routes to Successful Prospective Memory

Abstract

Identifying the processes by which people remember to execute an intention at an appropriate moment (prospective memory) remains a fundamental theoretical challenge. One account is that top-down attentional control is required to maintain activation of the intention, self-initiate intention retrieval, or support monitoring. A diverging account suggests bottom-up spontaneous retrieval can be triggered by cues that have been associated with the intention; sustained attentional processes are not required. We used a specialized experimental design and fMRI methods to selectively marshal and identify each process. Results revealed a clear dissociation. One prospective memory task recruited sustained activity in attentional control areas, such as anterior prefrontal cortex; the other engaged purely transient activity in parietal and ventral brain regions associated with attentional capture, target detection, and episodic retrieval. These patterns provide critical evidence that there are two neural routes to prospective memory, with each route emerging under different circumstances.

Assessment of Prospective Memory using fNIRS in Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

“…His findings were later reproduced in other studies [6] [7]. Several fMRI studies also link prefrontal lobe activity directly to PM task performance, and shown that each time participants respond appropriately to a PM cue, the cognitive processing resources would reallocation [8] [9] [10]. As a result, for the current study, we aim to further investigate this relationship in an immersive virtual reality environment.…”

Prospective Memory Impairments in Alzheimer’s Disease and Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia: Clinical and Neural Correlates

“…Prefrontal regions, including the rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10), consistently activate during PM performance in healthy individuals potentially reflecting intention maintenance [17,18]. Lesions to prefrontal regions have been shown to significantly compromise PM function [19,20], corroborating the neuroimaging findings.…”

The development of prospective memory in children: An executive framework

“…In addition, in an aging study, age-related differences in PM were mediated by processing speed, inhibitory control, and working memory (West & Craik, 2001). Finally, several studies using functional neuroimaging and event-related potentials have indicated the important role of various regions in the prefrontal and parietal cortices in prospective memory processes suggesting that working memory, inhibition, and attention switching between external events and internal thought processes are likely operating during prospective remembering (Bisiacchi, Schiff, Ciccola, & Kliegel, 2009;Burgess, Quayle, & Frith, 2001;Czernochowski, Horn, & Bayen, 2012;Martin et al, 2007;Mattli, Zöllig, & West, 2011;McDaniel et al, 1999;McDaniel, LaMontagne, Beck, Scullin, & Braver, 2013;Okuda et al, 1998;Simons, Schölvinck, Gilbert, Frith, & Burgess, 2006;West, 2011;West & Covell, 2001;Zöllig et al, 2007).…”