Electrophysiological potentials in the hippocampus during recognition memory
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Bridget Byrd (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
- Advisor
- Julian Keith
Abstract: Neural circuits within the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, support
recognition memory. Patients and animals with circumscribed hippocampus damage experience
significant episodic memory deficits but their general intellectual abilities remain intact. The
present thesis sought to determine whether electrical field potentials generated in the
hippocampus during a recognition memory task are influenced by stimulus repetition.
Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive technique used to measure the voltage changes
on the scalp in regards to a specific cognitive event. Event related potentials (ERP) is a post-hoc
analysis of recorded EEG and allows the voltage changes to be time-locked to the occurrence of
an event. EEG/ERP analysis was used to measure the voltage change in normal, healthy college
students in a recognition memory task. When visual stimuli are presented repeatedly certain
ERP components that are associated with recognition memory are attenuated, although some
discrepancies exist in the literature. Beamforming spatial filtering analysis is a source estimation
technique that allows inferences to be made about the locations of generators of the evoked
potentials that are recorded at the scalp. In the current study, a repetition effect was observed for
pictures and words at select electrode sites. Pictures and words previously seen (“Old’) had
significantly decreased peak amplitude compared to pictures and words that had not been seen
before. Although stimulus repetition clearly attenuated electrophysiological signals recorded on
certain regions of the scalp, beamforming analysis of the hippocampus showed that these
changes were not accompanied by similar changes in the field potentials generated within the
hippocampus. Interestingly, however, pictures and words produced markedly different
hippocampal field potentials.
Electrophysiological potentials in the hippocampus during recognition memory
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Evoked potentials (Electrophysiology)--Experiments, Memory--Physiological aspects, Psychobiology, Recognition (Psychology)--Physiological aspects, Recognition (Psychology)--Testing
- Subjects
- Psychobiology
- Recognition (Psychology) -- Testing
- Evoked potentials (Electrophysiology) -- Experiments
- Memory -- Physiological aspects
- Recognition (Psychology) -- Physiological aspects