Shifting visual perspective during retrieval shapes autobiographical memories

Abstract

The dynamic and flexible nature of memories is evident in our ability to adopt multiple visual perspectives. Although autobiographical memories are typically encoded from the visual perspective of our own eyes they can be retrieved from the perspective of an observer looking at our self. Here, we examined the neural mechanisms of shifting visual perspective during long-term memory retrieval and its influence on online and subsequent memories using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants generated specific autobiographical memories from the last five years and rated their visual perspective. In a separate fMRI session, they were asked to retrieve the memories across three repetitions while maintaining the same visual perspective as their initial rating or by shifting to an alternative perspective. Visual perspective shifting during autobiographical memory retrieval was supported by a linear decrease in neural recruitment across repetitions in the posterior parietal cortices. Additional analyses revealed that the precuneus, in particular, contributed to both online and subsequent changes in the phenomenology of memories. Our findings show that flexibly shifting egocentric perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval is supported by the precuneus, and suggest that this manipulation of mental imagery during retrieval has consequences for how memories are retrieved and later remembered. KeywordsEgocentric Perspective; Memory; fMRI; Precuneus; Repetition Suppression IntroductionMemories from our personal past are not static, but can be retrieved and thought about in multiple ways. This adaptive and flexible characteristic of memories enables us to construct alternative visual perspectives from which to view the past, in which we shift our first person viewpoint from inside the body to outside the body-seeing ourselves within the memory rather than re-experiencing it directly (Nigro and Neisser, 1983). Moreover, retrieving the Corresponding Author: Dr. Peggy L. St. Jacques, School of Psychology, Pevensey 1, Room 2C5, Brighton, UK BN1 9QH, Phone: +44 (0) 1273 873878, p.stjacques@sussex.ac.uk. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript past from alternative visual perspectives is not merely epiphenomenal, but impacts our sense of self (Sutin and Robins, 2008), affects our current mood and future behavior (Holmes et al., 2008;Libby et al., 2007), influences our causal attributions (Frank and Gilovich, 1989), and is affected in several mental disorders (Kenny et al., 2009). Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which we can adopt alternative visual perspectives during memory retrieval has important implications for many domains. Here we examine how neural mechanisms that enable the construction of alternative versions of the personal past when adopting different visual perspectives during memory retrieval shape remembering and subsequent memories.Visual perspective is a necessary feature in order to retrieve memories as remembered events rathe...

Precuneus stimulation alters the neural dynamics of autobiographical memory retrieval

“…Our results therefore suggest that participants more likely to flexibly shift perspectives during retrieval have greater peak LPC amplitudes. This finding fits with one previous study showing that parietal activity, in particular the central precuneus and right angular gyrus, is related to shifts in perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval (St. Jacques, Szpunar, & Schacter, 2016). It is also consistent with computational model predictions that translation between perspectives, or spatial updating, occurs repeatedly throughout memory retrieval (Bicanski & Burgess, 2018;Byrne et al, 2007).…”

“…Together these models implicate the hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, and precuneus in early space-based computations which are thought to be important for memory retrieval. While prior studies have implicated these regions in AM more generally (Svoboda, McKinnon, & Levine, 2006 for review), and in perspectivetaking during AM specifically (Freton et al, 2014;Hebscher, Levine, & Gilboa, 2018;Jacques, Szpunar, & Schacter, 2016), little evidence exists on the temporal dynamics of their recruitment.…”

Construction and Elaboration of Autobiographical Memories from Multiple Visual Perspectives

“…Only a handful of functional neuroimaging studies have investigated how visual perspective influences long-term memory retrieval (Eich and others 2009; Grol and others 2017; St Jacques and others 2018; St Jacques and others 2017). Eich and colleagues (2009) found greater recruitment of the amygdala for OE perspectives coupled with reduced neural recruitment of somato-motor and insular cortices for OB perspectives, which they suggested reflected reductions in emotion and embodiment when adopting an OB perspective during retrieval.…”

“…For example, Eich and colleagues (2009) used complex lab-based events based on physical actions that may have depended more on somato-motor and insular cortices when compared with the AMs used in the present study, which varied in content and type of event retrieved. Additionally, here we directly elicited AMs associated with OE and OB perspectives, which may have reduced demands to shift to an alternative visual perspective that are supported by the precuneus (e.g., St Jacques and others 2017). Instead, our findings suggest that visual perspective influences how particular brain regions interact with the hippocampus across both construction and elaboration phases of AM retrieval, contributing to later changes in neural recruitment in a core memory retrieval network.…”

“…A growing number of neuroimaging studies have begun to investigate visual perspective during long-term memory retrieval (Freton and others 2014; Grol and others 2017; Hebscher and others 2018; St Jacques and others 2018; St Jacques and others 2013; St Jacques and others 2017). Structural neuroimaging studies have shown a positive relationship between precuneus volume and the tendency to adopt an OE perspective during AM retrieval (Freton and others 2014; Hebscher and others 2018).…”