PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Christoph T. Weidemann
AU  - Michael J. Kahana
TI  - Dynamics of brain activity reveal a unitary recognition signal
AID  - 10.1101/165225
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 165225
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/03/165225.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/03/165225.full
AB  - The question of whether familiarity and recollection independently contribute to recognition has been an issue of contention for decades. A related question is whether these signals can each lead to recognition (enabling two routes to recognition) or whether the memory system integrates all available evidence. To distinguish between single and dual-route accounts of recognition memory, we quantified neural evidence for recognition decisions as a function of time, using multivariate classifiers trained on spectral EEG features. Classifiers trained on a small portion of the decision period performed similarly to those also incorporating information from previous time points indicating that neural activity reflects an integrated evidence signal. These results, along with a strong correspondence between classifier outputs and task performance, firmly link recognition decisions to other types of decisions under uncertainty, which are commonly assumed to rely on a unitary evidence signal differentiating between the response options.