RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Predicting memory from the network structure of naturalistic events
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.04.24.441287
DO 10.1101/2021.04.24.441287
A1 Lee, Hongmi
A1 Chen, Janice
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/27/2021.04.24.441287.abstract
AB When we remember events, we often do not only recall individual events, but also the connections between them. However, extant research has focused on how humans segment and remember discrete events from continuous input, with far less attention given to how the structure of connections between events impacts memory. Here we conduct a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in which subjects watch and recall a series of realistic audiovisual narratives. By transforming narratives into networks of events, we demonstrate that more central events—those with stronger semantic or causal connections to other events—are better remembered. During encoding, central events evoke larger hippocampal event boundary responses associated with memory formation. During recall, high centrality is associated with stronger activation in cortical areas involved in episodic recollection, and more similar neural representations across individuals. Together, these results suggest that when humans encode and retrieve complex real-world experiences, the reliability and accessibility of memory representations is shaped by their location within a network of events.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.