Mnemonic convergence in the human hippocampus.
The ability to form associations between a multitude of events is the hallmark of episodic memory. Computational models have espoused the importance of the hippocampus as convergence zone, binding different aspects of an episode into a coherent representation, by integrating information from multiple brain regions. However, evidence for this long-held hypothesis is limited, since previous work has largely focused on representational and network properties of the hippocampus in isolation. Here we identify the hippocampus as mnemonic convergence zone, using a combination of multivariate pattern and graph-theoretical network analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data from humans performing an associative memory task. We observe overlap of conjunctive coding and hub-like network attributes in the hippocampus. These results provide evidence for mnemonic convergence in the hippocampus, underlying the integration of distributed information into episodic memory representations.
Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands.
Alexander R
AR
Backus
Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands.
Sander E
SE
Bosch
Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands.
Matthias
0000-0003-1254-1392
M
Ekman
Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands.
Alejandro Vicente
AV
Grabovetsky
Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands.
Christian F
CF
Doeller
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*