Enhanced transformation of incidentally learned knowledge into explicit memory by dopaminergic modulation.

During incidental learning statistical regularities are extracted from the environment without the intention to learn. Acquired implicit memory of these regularities can affect behavior in the absence of awareness. However, conscious insight in the underlying regularities can also develop during learning. Such emergence of explicit memory is an important learning mechanism that is assumed to involve prediction errors in the striatum and to be dopamine-dependent. Here we directly tested this hypothesis by manipulating dopamine levels during incidental learning in a modified serial reaction time task (SRTT) featuring a hidden regular sequence of motor responses in a placebo-controlled between-group study. Awareness for the sequential regularity was subsequently assessed using cued generation and additionally verified using free recall. The results demonstrated that dopaminergic modulation nearly doubled the amount of explicit sequence knowledge emerged during learning in comparison to the placebo group. This strong effect clearly argues for a causal role of dopamine-dependent processing for the development of awareness for sequential regularities during learning.

Differential effects of ongoing EEG beta and theta power on memory formation.

Recently, elevated ongoing pre-stimulus beta power (13-17 Hz) at encoding has been associated with subsequent memory formation for visual stimulus material. It is unclear whether this activity is merely specific to visual processing or whether it reflects a state facilitating general memory formation, independent of stimulus modality. To answer that question, the present study investigated the relationship between neural pre-stimulus oscillations and verbal memory formation in different sensory modalities. For that purpose, a within-subject design was employed to explore differences between successful and failed memory formation in the visual and auditory modality. Furthermore, associative memory was addressed by presenting the stimuli in combination with background images. Results revealed that similar EEG activity in the low beta frequency range (13-17 Hz) is associated with subsequent memory success, independent of stimulus modality. Elevated power prior to stimulus onset differentiated successful from failed memory formation. In contrast, differential effects between modalities were found in the theta band (3-7 Hz), with an increased oscillatory activity before the onset of later remembered visually presented words. In addition, pre-stimulus theta power dissociated between successful and failed encoding of associated context, independent of the stimulus modality of the item itself. We therefore suggest that increased ongoing low beta activity reflects a memory promoting state, which is likely to be moderated by modality-independent attentional or inhibitory processes, whereas high ongoing theta power is suggested as an indicator of the enhanced binding of incoming interlinked information.

Filling the void-enriching the feature space of successful stopping.

The ability to inhibit behavior is crucial for adaptation in a fast changing environment and is commonly studied with the stop signal task. Current EEG research mainly focuses on the N200 and P300 ERPs and corresponding activity in the theta and delta frequency range, thereby leaving us with a limited understanding of the mechanisms of response inhibition. Here, 15 functional networks were estimated from time-frequency transformed EEG recorded during processing of a visual stop signal task. Cortical sources underlying these functional networks were reconstructed, and a total of 45 features, each representing spectrally and temporally coherent activity, were extracted to train a classifier to differentiate between go and stop trials. A classification accuracy of 85.55% for go and 83.85% for stop trials was achieved. Features capturing fronto-central delta- and theta activity, parieto-occipital alpha, fronto-central as well as right frontal beta activity were highly discriminating between trial-types. However, only a single network, comprising a feature defined by oscillatory activity below 12 Hz, was associated with a generator in the opercular region of the right inferior frontal cortex and showed the expected associations with behavioral inhibition performance. This study pioneers by providing a detailed ranking of neural features regarding their information content for stop and go differentiation at the single-trial level, and may further be the first to identify a scalp EEG marker of the inhibitory control network. This analysis allows for the characterization of the temporal dynamics of response inhibition by matching electrophysiological phenomena to cortical generators and behavioral inhibition performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1333-1346, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Intention to encode boosts memory-related pre-stimulus EEG beta power.

Pre-stimulus oscillatory brain activity can predict the degree to which an upcoming stimulus will be remembered at a later point in time. Recently, increased pre-stimulus power in ongoing theta (5-8Hz) and low beta (13-17Hz) bands during encoding has been associated with enhanced memory performance. When a cue is presented before stimulus onset, encoding-related brain activations may be regarded as a sign of preparation for the upcoming stimulus. Here, we investigated whether the intention to encode the following stimulus into long-term memory affects these preparatory pre-stimulus activations during encoding. Two groups of 18 participants took part in a subsequent memory paradigm. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while participants were presented with a series of pictures, each one preceded by a cue, which were supposed to be classified according to animacy. One group was informed about the upcoming recognition task and therefore was enabled to develop the intention to encode the stimuli (intentional encoding), whereas the other group did not receive this information (incidental encoding). Afterwards, recognition of the pictures was tested. During intentional encoding only, power in theta and low beta bands was found to be significantly increased before the onset of pictures that were later remembered compared to later forgotten ones. Group comparisons confirmed greater memory-related power increases in the low beta band for intentional than incidental encoding. These findings indicate that oscillatory states that are associated with successful encoding can be initiated voluntarily if the intention to encode the stimuli is given. We therefore suggest low beta band activation before stimulus onset to be an indicator of memory-specific preparation for an upcoming stimulus.

Speaker identity supports phonetic category learning.

Visual cues from the speaker's face, such as the discriminable mouth movements used to produce speech sounds, improve discrimination of these sounds by adults. The speaker's face, however, provides more information than just the mouth movements used to produce speech--it also provides a visual indexical cue of the identity of the speaker. The current article examines the extent to which there is separable encoding of speaker identity in speech processing and asks whether speech discrimination is influenced by speaker identity. Does consistent pairing of different speakers' faces with different sounds--that is, hearing one speaker saying one sound and a second speaker saying the second sound--influence the brain's discrimination of the sounds? ERP data from participants previously exposed to consistent speaker-sound pairing indicated improved detection of the phoneme change relative to participants previously exposed to inconsistent speaker-sound pairing--that is, hearing both speakers say both sounds. The results strongly suggest an influence of visual speaker identity in speech processing.