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Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation

The formation of semantic memories is assumed to result from the abstraction of general, schema-like knowledge across multiple experiences, while at the same time, episodic details from individual experiences are forgotten. Against this backdrop, our study examined the effects of information load (h...

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Autores principales: Harkotte, Maximilian, Contreras, María P., Inostroza, Marion, Born, Jan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9315445/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35903219
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.923713
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author Harkotte, Maximilian
Contreras, María P.
Inostroza, Marion
Born, Jan
author_facet Harkotte, Maximilian
Contreras, María P.
Inostroza, Marion
Born, Jan
author_sort Harkotte, Maximilian
collection PubMed
description The formation of semantic memories is assumed to result from the abstraction of general, schema-like knowledge across multiple experiences, while at the same time, episodic details from individual experiences are forgotten. Against this backdrop, our study examined the effects of information load (high vs. low) during encoding on the formation of episodic and schema memory using an elaborated version of an object-place recognition (OPR) task in rats. The task allowed for the abstraction of a spatial rule across four (low information load) or eight (high information load) encoding episodes (spaced apart by a 20 min interval) in which the rats could freely explore two objects in an open field arena. After this encoding phase, animals were left undisturbed for 24 h and then tested either for the expression of schema memory, i.e., for the spatial rule, or memory for an individual encoding episode. Rats in the high information load condition exhibited a more robust schema memory for the spatial rule than in the low information load condition. In contrast, rats in the low load condition showed more robust memory for individual learning episodes than in the high information load condition. Our findings of opposing effects might point to an information-load-dependent competitive relationship between processes of schema and episodic memory formation, although other explanations are possible.
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spelling pubmed-93154452022-07-27 Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation Harkotte, Maximilian Contreras, María P. Inostroza, Marion Born, Jan Front Behav Neurosci Behavioral Neuroscience The formation of semantic memories is assumed to result from the abstraction of general, schema-like knowledge across multiple experiences, while at the same time, episodic details from individual experiences are forgotten. Against this backdrop, our study examined the effects of information load (high vs. low) during encoding on the formation of episodic and schema memory using an elaborated version of an object-place recognition (OPR) task in rats. The task allowed for the abstraction of a spatial rule across four (low information load) or eight (high information load) encoding episodes (spaced apart by a 20 min interval) in which the rats could freely explore two objects in an open field arena. After this encoding phase, animals were left undisturbed for 24 h and then tested either for the expression of schema memory, i.e., for the spatial rule, or memory for an individual encoding episode. Rats in the high information load condition exhibited a more robust schema memory for the spatial rule than in the low information load condition. In contrast, rats in the low load condition showed more robust memory for individual learning episodes than in the high information load condition. Our findings of opposing effects might point to an information-load-dependent competitive relationship between processes of schema and episodic memory formation, although other explanations are possible. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9315445/ /pubmed/35903219 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.923713 Text en Copyright © 2022 Harkotte, Contreras, Inostroza and Born. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Behavioral Neuroscience
Harkotte, Maximilian
Contreras, María P.
Inostroza, Marion
Born, Jan
Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title_full Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title_fullStr Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title_short Effects of Information Load on Schema and Episodic Memory Formation
title_sort effects of information load on schema and episodic memory formation
topic Behavioral Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9315445/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35903219
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.923713
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