title: "What-Where-Which" Episodic Retrieval Requires Conscious Recollection and Is Promoted by Semantic Knowledge.
abstract: Episodic memory is defined as the conscious retrieval of specific past events. Whether accurate episodic retrieval requires a recollective experience or if a feeling of knowing is sufficient remains unresolved. We recently devised an ecological approach to investigate the controlled cued-retrieval of episodes composed of unnamable odors (What) located spatially (Where) within a visual context (Which context). By combining the Remember/Know procedure with our laboratory-ecological approach in an original way, the present study demonstrated that the accurate odor-evoked retrieval of complex and multimodal episodes overwhelmingly required conscious recollection. A feeling of knowing, even when associated with a high level of confidence, was not sufficient to generate accurate episodic retrieval. Interestingly, we demonstrated that the recollection of accurate episodic memories was promoted by odor retrieval-cue familiarity and describability. In conclusion, our study suggested that semantic knowledge about retrieval-cues increased the recollection which is the state of awareness required for the accurate retrieval of complex episodic memories.
authors.affiliation: Olfaction: from coding to memory team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292 - INSERM U1028, University Lyon1, Lyon, F-69366, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Saive
authors.affiliation: Olfaction: from coding to memory team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292 - INSERM U1028, University Lyon1, Lyon, F-69366, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Royet
authors.affiliation: Olfaction: from coding to memory team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292 - INSERM U1028, University Lyon1, Lyon, F-69366, France.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Olfaction: from coding to memory team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292 - INSERM U1028, University Lyon1, Lyon, F-69366, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thévenet
authors.affiliation: Olfaction: from coding to memory team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR 5292 - INSERM U1028, University Lyon1, Lyon, F-69366, France.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plailly
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D057181:Pleasure / Q000502:physiology; D012119:Respiration; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult