How Hippocampal Memory Shapes, and Is Shaped by, Attention

Aly, Mariam; Turk‐Browne, Nicholas B.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-50406-3_12

Cited by 72 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 148 publications

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“…Attention gates what we perceive and remember, and yet we know relatively little about how attention modulates neural activity in the hippocampus. Recent work has made important progress in elucidating how the hippocampus is modulated by the focus of attention (Aly & Turk‐Browne, , , ), in line with the current findings. We provide evidence that the hippocampus is differentially involved in relational and item attention, even during online visual perception.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Focusing on what matters: Modulation of the human hippocampus by relational attention

2019

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Hippocampal episodic memory is fundamentally relational, comprising links between events and the spatiotemporal contexts in which they occurred. Such relations are also important over shorter timescales, during online perception. For example, how do we assess the relative spatial positions of objects, their temporal order, or the relationship between their features? Here, we investigate the role of the hippocampus in online relational processing by manipulating attention to different kinds of relations. While undergoing fMRI, participants viewed two images in rapid succession on each trial and performed one of three relational tasks, judging the images’ relative: spatial positions, temporal onsets, or sizes. Additionally, they sometimes judged whether one image was tilted, irrespective of the other. This served as a baseline item task with no demands on relational processing. The hippocampus showed reliable deactivation when participants attended to relational vs. item information. Attention to temporal relations was associated with the most robust deactivation. One interpretation of such deactivation is that it reflects hippo-campal disengagement. If true, there should be reduced information content and noisier activity patterns for the temporal vs. other tasks. Instead, multivariate pattern analysis revealed more stable hippocampal representations in the temporal task. This increased pattern similarity was not simply a reflection of lower univariate activity. Thus, the hippocampus differentiates between relational and item processing even during online perception, and its representations of temporal relations are particularly robust. These findings suggest that the relational computations of the hippocampus extend beyond long-term memory, enabling rapid extraction of relational information in perception.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Focusing on what matters: Modulation of the human hippocampus by relational attention

2019

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“…When such findings are considered alongside computational modeling research that details how neural activity may traverse the myriad of structural connections between the memory and oculomotor systems within the time of a gaze fixation, it becomes apparent that eye movements reveal the use of stored information on a moment‐to‐moment basis. The research we have reviewed here collectively aligns with theoretical accounts that suggest hippocampally mediated representations are used in service of multiple cognitive functions beyond memory, including allocating overt attention, biasing ongoing perceptual processing, and directing further actions . Moreover, the work in cases of amnesia, aging, and neurodegeneration presented here changes how the nature of hippocampal dysfunction can be conceived.…”

Section: Theoretical Considerationssupporting

confidence: 59%

“…The research we have reviewed here collectively aligns with theoretical accounts that suggest hippocampally mediated representations are used in service of multiple cognitive functions beyond memory, including allocating overt attention, biasing ongoing perceptual processing, and directing further actions. 104,218,219 Moreover, the work in cases of amnesia, aging, and neurodegeneration presented here changes how the nature of hippocampal dysfunction can be conceived. Namely, hippocampal compromise may be both more pervasive than previously thought and result in deficits beyond memory, as it changes the very manner by which visual exploration occurs.…”

Section: Theoretical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

The intersection between the oculomotor and hippocampal memory systems: empirical developments and clinical implications

Ryan

Shen

Liu

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Decades of cognitive neuroscience research has shown that where we look is intimately connected to what we remember. In this article, we review findings from human and nonhuman animals, using behavioral, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and computational modeling methods, to show that the oculomotor and hippocampal memory systems interact in a reciprocal manner, on a moment‐to‐moment basis, mediated by a vast structural and functional network. Visual exploration serves to efficiently gather information from the environment for the purpose of creating new memories, updating existing memories, and reconstructing the rich, vivid details from memory. Conversely, memory increases the efficiency of visual exploration. We call for models of oculomotor control to consider the influence of the hippocampal memory system on the cognitive control of eye movements, and for models of hippocampal and broader medial temporal lobe function to consider the influence of the oculomotor system on the development and expression of memory. We describe eye movement–based applications for the detection of neurodegeneration and delivery of therapeutic interventions for mental health disorders for which the hippocampus is implicated and memory dysfunctions are at the forefront.

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“…These findings therefore suggest that the hippocampus might play an important role in establishing memory-guided attentional states. In line with this, several studies have found that hippocampal activity levels are higher for memory-guided vs. explicitly instructed attention (Aly & Turk-Browne, 2017;Stokes, Atherton, Patai, & Nobre, 2012;Summerfield, Lepsien, Gitelman, Mesulam, & Nobre, 2006). This activity enhancement for memoryguided attention is present as soon as information from memory is available, and even prior to attentional guidance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Instead, our attentional states are often guided by past experiences in similar situations. Such memory-guided attention is effective in guiding goal-directed behavior (Aly & Turk-Browne, 2017;Chen & Hutchinson, 2018;Nobre & Stokes, 2019) but is relatively under-explored. Here, we examine the neural mechanisms underlying memory-guided attention, with the aim of determining the nature of neural representations that enable past experiences to be used to prepare for upcoming attentional goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation for upcoming attentional states in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex

Günseli

Aly

2019

Preprint

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AbstractGoal-directed attention is usually studied by providing individuals with explicit instructions on what they should attend to. But in daily life, we often use past experiences to guide our attentional states. Given the importance of memory for predicting upcoming events, we hypothesized that memory-guided attention is supported by neural preparation for anticipated attentional states. We examined preparatory coding in the human hippocampus and mPFC, two regions that are important for memory-guided behaviors, in two tasks: one where attention was guided by memory and another in which attention was explicitly instructed. Hippocampus and mPFC exhibited higher activity for memory-guided vs. explicitly instructed attention. Furthermore, representations in both regions contained information about upcoming attentional states. In the hippocampus, this preparation was stronger for memory-guided attention, and occurred alongside stronger coupling with visual cortex during attentional guidance. These results highlight the mechanisms by which memories are used to prepare for upcoming attentional goals.Competing InterestsNone.

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How Hippocampal Memory Shapes, and Is Shaped by, Attention

Cited by 72 publications

References 148 publications

Focusing on what matters: Modulation of the human hippocampus by relational attention

Focusing on what matters: Modulation of the human hippocampus by relational attention

The intersection between the oculomotor and hippocampal memory systems: empirical developments and clinical implications

Preparation for upcoming attentional states in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex

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