Comparison of neural activity that leads to true memories, false memories, and forgetting: An fMRI study of the misinformation effect.
False memories can occur when people are exposed to misinformation about a past event. Of interest here are the neural mechanisms of this type of memory failure. In the present study, participants viewed photographic vignettes of common activities during an original event phase (OEP), while we monitored their brain activity using fMRI. Later, in a misinformation phase, participants viewed sentences describing the studied photographs, some of which contained information conflicting with that depicted in the photographs. One day later, participants returned for a surprise item memory recognition test for the content of the photographs. Results showed reliable creation of false memories, in that participants reported information that had been presented in the verbal misinformation but not in the photographs. Several regions were more active during the OEP for later accurate memory than for forgetting, but they were also more active for later false memories, indicating that false memories in this paradigm are not simply caused by failure to encode the original event. There was greater activation in the ventral visual stream for subsequent true memories than for subsequent false memories, however, suggesting that differences in encoding may contribute to later susceptibility to misinformation.
Baym
Carol L
CL
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA. cbaym@illinois.edu
Gonsalves
Brian D
BD
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension; D008192:Deception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012016:Reference Values; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
Neuron. 1996 Aug;17(2):267-74
8780650
Mem Cognit. 1997 Nov;25(6):826-37
9421569
Mem Cognit. 1998 Jan;26(1):20-33
9519694
J Exp Child Psychol. 1999 May;73(1):45-71
10196074
Neuron. 2003 Apr 24;38(2):347-58
12718867
Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(10):1429-43
15989934
Psychon Bull Rev. 1996 Jun;3(2):208-14
24213869
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Aug 6;93(16):8660-5
8710927
Br J Psychol. 1993 Feb;84 ( Pt 1):111-8
8467368
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Apr 10;98(8):4805-10
11287664
Mem Cognit. 1988 Jul;16(4):337-42
3210974
Nat Neurosci. 2004 Jun;7(6):664-72
15156146
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Feb 18;100(4):2157-62
12578977
Neuron. 2000 Dec;28(3):979-90
11163281
J Exp Psychol Gen. 1985 Sep;114(3):375-87
3161981
Neuroimage. 2002 Jan;15(1):273-89
11771995
Learn Mem. 2005 Jan-Feb;12(1):3-11
15687227
Behav Brain Res. 2002 Apr 1;131(1-2):163-8
11844583
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2007 Sep;8(9):657-61
17700624
J Nerv Ment Dis. 1986 Dec;174(12):727-35
3783140
Nat Neurosci. 2000 Dec;3(12):1316-21
11100153
Learn Mem. 2005 Jul-Aug;12(4):361-6
16027179
Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(1):2-13
14615072
J Exp Psychol Hum Learn. 1978 Jan;4(1):19-31
621467
J Exp Psychol Gen. 1985 Mar;114(1):1-16
3156942
Psychol Bull. 2009 Jul;135(4):638-77
19586165
Science. 1998 Aug 21;281(5380):1185-7
9712581
Memory. 1998 Jan;6(1):1-20
9640430
Science. 1998 Oct 2;282(5386):108-11
9756472
Annu Rev Psychol. 2004;55:235-69
14744216
Hum Brain Mapp. 1999;8(2-3):109-14
10524601
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2003 Dec;3(4):323-34
15040552
Neuron. 2004 Sep 30;44(1):149-60
15450167
J Exp Child Psychol. 2001 Aug;79(4):388-404
11511130
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008 Mar;1124:1-38
18400922
Br J Psychol. 1973 Feb;64(1):17-24
4742442
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2007;30:123-52
17417939
Neuroreport. 1998 Nov 16;9(16):3711-7
9858384
Mem Cognit. 1997 Nov;25(6):838-48
9421570
Neuroimage. 2005 Aug 1;27(1):231-9
15927485
Psychol Sci. 2004 Oct;15(10):655-60
15447635