The Function of the Hippocampus in Bridging Functional and Temporal Discontiguity

Joint Authors

Zhang, Ze
Niki, Kazuhisa
Luo, Jing

Source

Neural Plasticity

Issue

Vol. 2020, Issue 2020 (31 Dec. 2020), pp.1-10, 10 p.

Publisher

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Publication Date

2020-11-07

Country of Publication

Egypt

No. of Pages

10

Main Subjects

Biology
Medicine

Abstract EN

Theoretical assessment of the function of the hippocampus has suggested that given certain physiological constraints at both the neuronal and cortical level, the hippocampus is best suited to associate discontiguous items that occur in different temporal or spatial positions.

Conceptually, “discontiguous” refers to events that are to be associated with one another but do not temporally or spatially overlap.

However, given that humans can actively maintain information “online” by rehearsing it, even when the information is no longer being presented to the sensory system, the right way to experimentally define “discontiguity” is still a question.

Does it refer to a “gap” in the presentation of information (temporal discontiguity) or to an “interruption” of the active maintenance of working memory (WM) information (functional discontiguity)? To assess this, participants were imaged by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when making judgments on whether two words were semantically related or not.

In contrast with recognition memory that can be carried out through perceptual familiarity heuristics, judgments on semantic relatedness can only be accomplished through associative processing.

To assess this experimentally, two words are either (1) presented at the same time (Event AB) or (2) one after the other with an unfilled, cross-viewing delay (Event A_B) (the uninterrupted discontiguity) or (3) presented one after the other, between which participants are required to perform a calculation task (Event A#B) (the interrupted discontiguity).

Results of event-related fMRI analysis revealed that relative to Event AB, Event A_B was not associated with more hippocampal activity, whereas Event A#B was.

The direct contrast of Event A#B relative to Event A_B also revealed significant hippocampal and parahippocampal activity.

This result implied that functional discontiguity (the interruption of online maintenance of the inputted information) could be more apt at engaging the function of the hippocampus.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Zhang, Ze& Niki, Kazuhisa& Luo, Jing. 2020. The Function of the Hippocampus in Bridging Functional and Temporal Discontiguity. Neural Plasticity،Vol. 2020, no. 2020, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1202618

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Zhang, Ze…[et al.]. The Function of the Hippocampus in Bridging Functional and Temporal Discontiguity. Neural Plasticity No. 2020 (2020), pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1202618

American Medical Association (AMA)

Zhang, Ze& Niki, Kazuhisa& Luo, Jing. The Function of the Hippocampus in Bridging Functional and Temporal Discontiguity. Neural Plasticity. 2020. Vol. 2020, no. 2020, pp.1-10.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1202618

Data Type

Journal Articles

Language

English

Notes

Includes bibliographical references

Record ID

BIM-1202618