Awake, Offline Processing during Associative Learning.

Offline processing has been shown to strengthen memory traces and enhance learning in the absence of conscious rehearsal or awareness. Here we evaluate whether a brief, two-minute offline processing period can boost associative learning and test a memory reactivation account for these offline processing effects. After encoding paired associates, subjects either completed a distractor task for two minutes or were immediately tested for memory of the pairs in a counterbalanced, within-subjects functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Results showed that brief, awake, offline processing improves memory for associate pairs. Moreover, multi-voxel pattern analysis of the neuroimaging data suggested reactivation of encoded memory representations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during offline processing. These results signify the first demonstration of awake, active, offline enhancement of associative memory and suggest that such enhancement is accompanied by the offline reactivation of encoded memory representations.

Mindfulness meditation training alters stress-related amygdala resting state functional connectivity: a randomized controlled trial.

Recent studies indicate that mindfulness meditation training interventions reduce stress and improve stress-related health outcomes, but the neural pathways for these effects are unknown. The present research evaluates whether mindfulness meditation training alters resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala, a region known to coordinate stress processing and physiological stress responses. We show in an initial discovery study that higher perceived stress over the past month is associated with greater bilateral amygdala-subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) rsFC in a sample of community adults (n = 130). A follow-up, single-blind randomized controlled trial shows that a 3-day intensive mindfulness meditation training intervention (relative to a well-matched 3-day relaxation training intervention without a mindfulness component) reduced right amygdala-sgACC rsFC in a sample of stressed unemployed community adults (n = 35). Although stress may increase amygdala-sgACC rsFC, brief training in mindfulness meditation could reverse these effects. This work provides an initial indication that mindfulness meditation training promotes functional neuroplastic changes, suggesting an amygdala-sgACC pathway for stress reduction effects.

Neural reactivation links unconscious thought to decision-making performance.

Brief periods of unconscious thought (UT) have been shown to improve decision making compared with making an immediate decision (ID). We reveal a neural mechanism for UT in decision making using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants (N = 33) encoded information on a set of consumer products (e.g. 48 attributes describing four different cars), and we manipulated whether participants (i) consciously thought about this information (conscious thought), (ii) completed a difficult 2-back working memory task (UT) or (iii) made an immediate decision about the consumer products (ID) in a within-subjects blocked design. To differentiate UT neural activity from 2-back working memory neural activity, participants completed an independent 2-back task and this neural activity was subtracted from neural activity occurring during the UT 2-back task. Consistent with a neural reactivation account, we found that the same regions activated during the encoding of complex decision information (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left intermediate visual cortex) continued to be activated during a subsequent 2-min UT period. Moreover, neural reactivation in these regions was predictive of subsequent behavioral decision-making performance after the UT period. These results provide initial evidence for post-encoding unconscious neural reactivation in facilitating decision making.