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Durable memories and efficient neural coding through mnemonic training using the method of loci

View ORCID ProfileIsabella C. Wagner, Boris N. Konrad, Philipp Schuster, Sarah Weisig, Dimitris Repantis, Kathrin Ohla, Simone Kühn, Guillén Fernández, Axel Steiger, Claus Lamm, Michael Czisch, Martin Dresler
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.29.067561
Isabella C. Wagner
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 6525 EZ, The Netherlands
2Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
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  • ORCID record for Isabella C. Wagner
  • For correspondence: isabella.wagner@univie.ac.at
Boris N. Konrad
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 6525 EZ, The Netherlands
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Philipp Schuster
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Sarah Weisig
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Dimitris Repantis
4Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 12203 Berlin, Germany
6Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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Kathrin Ohla
5Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Centre Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Simone Kühn
6Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany
7University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
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Guillén Fernández
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 6525 EZ, The Netherlands
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Axel Steiger
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Claus Lamm
2Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
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Michael Czisch
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Martin Dresler
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 6525 EZ, The Netherlands
3Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, 80804 Munich, Germany
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Abstract

Mnemonic techniques, such as the method of loci, can powerfully boost memory. Here, we compared memory athletes ranked among the world’s top 50 in memory sports to mnemonics-naïve controls. In a second study, participants completed a six-weeks memory training, working memory training, or no intervention. Behaviorally, memory training enhanced durable, longer-lasting memories. fMRI during encoding and recognition revealed task-based activation decreases in lateral prefrontal, as well as in parahippocampal and retrosplenial cortices in both memory athletes and participants after memory training, partly associated with better performance after four months. This was complemented by hippocampal-neocortical coupling during consolidation, which was stronger the more durable memories participants formed. Our findings are the first to demonstrate that mnemonic training boosts durable memory formation via decreased task-based activation and increased consolidation thereafter. This is in line with conceptual accounts of neural efficiency and highlights a complex interplay of neural processes critical for extraordinary memory.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 30, 2020.
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Durable memories and efficient neural coding through mnemonic training using the method of loci
Isabella C. Wagner, Boris N. Konrad, Philipp Schuster, Sarah Weisig, Dimitris Repantis, Kathrin Ohla, Simone Kühn, Guillén Fernández, Axel Steiger, Claus Lamm, Michael Czisch, Martin Dresler
bioRxiv 2020.04.29.067561; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.29.067561
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Durable memories and efficient neural coding through mnemonic training using the method of loci
Isabella C. Wagner, Boris N. Konrad, Philipp Schuster, Sarah Weisig, Dimitris Repantis, Kathrin Ohla, Simone Kühn, Guillén Fernández, Axel Steiger, Claus Lamm, Michael Czisch, Martin Dresler
bioRxiv 2020.04.29.067561; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.29.067561

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