title: Intrinsic medial temporal lobe connectivity relates to individual differences in episodic autobiographical remembering.
abstract: People vary in how they remember the past: some recall richly detailed episodes; others more readily access the semantic features of events. The neural correlates of such trait-like differences in episodic and semantic remembering are unknown. We found that self-reported individual differences in how one recalls the past were related to predictable intrinsic connectivity patterns of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system. A pattern of MTL connectivity to posterior brain regions supporting visual-perceptual processing (occipital/parietal cortices) was related to the endorsement of episodic memory-based remembering (recalling spatiotemporal event information), whereas MTL connectivity to inferior and middle prefrontal cortical regions was related to the endorsement of semantic memory-based remembering (recalling facts). These findings suggest that the tendency to engage in episodic autobiographical remembering is associated with accessing and constructing detailed images of a past event in memory, while the tendency to engage in semantic autobiographical remembering is associated with organizing and integrating higher-order conceptual information. More broadly, these findings suggest that differences in how people naturally use memory are instantiated though distinct patterns of MTL functional connectivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. Electronic address: signy.sheldon@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Signy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheldon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farb
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniela J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Palombo
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: blevine@research.baycrest.org.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Functional connectivity; Individual differences; Memory