Differential roles for medial prefrontal and medial temporal cortices in schema-dependent encoding: From congruent to incongruent
Open accessAbstract
Information that is congruent with prior knowledge is generally remembered better than incongruent information. This effect of congruency on memory has been attributed to a facilitatory influence of activated schemas on memory encoding and consolidation processes, and hypothesised to reflect a shift between processing in medial temporal lobes (MTL) towards processing in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). To investigate this shift, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare brain activity during paired-associate encoding across three levels of subjective congruency of the association with prior knowledge. Participants indicated how congruent they found an object-scene pair during scanning, and were tested on item and associative recognition memory for these associations one day later. Behaviourally, we found a monotonic increase in memory performance with increasing congruency for both item and associative memory. Moreover, as hypothesised, encoding-related activity in mPFC increased linearly with increasing congruency, whereas MTL showed the opposite pattern of increasing encoding-related activity with decreasing congruency. Additionally, mPFC showed increased functional connectivity with a region in the ventral visual stream, presumably related to the binding of visual representations. These results support predictions made by a recent neuroscientific framework concerning the effects of schema on memory. Specifically, our findings show that enhanced memory for more congruent information is mediated by the mPFC, which is hypothesised to guide integration of new information into a pre-existing schema represented in cortical areas, while memory for more incongruent information relies instead on automatic encoding of arbitrary associations by the MTL.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The memory benefits of cognitive schemata are thought to arise from interactions between prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe, which support efficient learning of schematically congruent materials.
“The memory benefits of cognitive schemata are thought to arise from interactions between prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe, which support efficient learning of schematically congruent materials [30,31].”
From Sleep bolsters schematically incongruent memories (2022) · cites this paper as [30]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Tzourio-Mazoyer, N., Landeau, B., Papathanassiou, D., Crivello, F., Etard, O., Delcroix, N., Mazoyer, B., & Joliot, M. (2002) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.0978 · Cited by 16,319 · see citing works
(1999) · Cited by 12,812 · see citing works
REMEMBERING: A STUDY IN EXPERIMENTAL AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Bartlett, F. C., & Burt, C. (1933) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1933.tb02913.x · Cited by 7,475 · see citing works
LOSS OF RECENT MEMORY AFTER BILATERAL HIPPOCAMPAL LESIONS
Scoville, W. B., & Milner, B. (1957) · Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp.20.1.11 · Cited by 7,322 · see citing works
Psychophysiological and Modulatory Interactions in Neuroimaging
Friston, K. J., Buechel, C., Fink, G. R., Morris, J., Rolls, E., & Dolan, R. J. (1997) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.1997.0291 · Cited by 3,097 · see citing works
(2000) · Cited by 2,779 · see citing works
Bartlett, F. C., & Kintsch, W. (1995) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511759185 · Cited by 2,408 · see citing works
Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall
Bransford, J. D., & Johnson, M. K. (1972) · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(72)80006-9 · Cited by 2,131 · see citing works
Parietal lobe contributions to episodic memory retrieval
Wagner, A. D., Shannon, B. J., Kahn, I., & Buckner, R. L. (2005) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2005.07.001 · Cited by 1,571 · see citing works
Retrograde amnesia and memory consolidation: a neurobiological perspective
Squire, L. R., & Alvarez, P. (1995) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/0959-4388(95)80023-9 · Cited by 1,412 · see citing works
Schemas and Memory Consolidation.
Tse, D., Langston, R. F., Kakeyama, M., Bethus, I., Spooner, P. A., Wood, E. R., Witter, M. P., & Morris, R. G. M. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1135935 · Cited by 1,244 · see citing works
How schema and novelty augment memory formation
van Kesteren, M. T. R., Ruiter, D. J., Fernández, G., & Henson, R. N. (2012) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2012.02.001 · Cited by 860 · see citing works
Self-citationObserving the transformation of experience into memory
Paller, K. A., & Wagner, A. D. (2002) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01845-3 · Cited by 852 · see citing works
Schema-dependent gene activation and memory encoding in neocortex
Tse, D., Takeuchi, T., Kakeyama, M., Kajii, Y., Okuno, H., Tohyama, C., Bito, H., & Morris, R. G. M. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1205274 · Cited by 618 · see citing works
Hippocampal-Neocortical Interactions in Memory Formation, Consolidation, and Reconsolidation
Wang, S., & Morris, R. (2009) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100523 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
A theory for cerebral neocortex
Marr, D. (1970) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.1970.0040 · Cited by 463 · see citing works
van Kesteren, M. T. R., Fernández, G., Norris, D. G., & Hermans, E. J. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0914892107 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
Self-citationPoser, B. A., Versluis, M. J., Hoogduin, J. M., & Norris, D. G. (2006) · Magnetic Resonance in Medicine · doi:10.1002/mrm.20900 · Cited by 440 · see citing works
Novelty assessment in the brain and long-term memory encoding
Tulving, E., & Kroll, N. (1995) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03210977 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
van Kesteren, M. T. R., Rijpkema, M., Ruiter, D. J., & Fernández, G. (2010) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2674-10.2010 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Self-citationRapid neocortical acquisition of long-term arbitrary associations independent of the hippocampus
Sharon, T., Moscovitch, M., & Gilboa, A. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1005238108 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Staresina, B. P., Duncan, K. D., & Davachi, L. (2011) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4978-10.2011 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Sugiura, M., Shah, N. J., Zilles, K., & Fink, G. R. (2005) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/0898929053124956 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Davis, T. H., Love, B. C., & Preston, A. R. (2011) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr036 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Effects of prior knowledge on memory for new information
Anderson, J. R. (1981) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03196958 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
An appreciation of generate-recognize theory of recall
Watkins, M. J., & Gardiner, J. M. (1979) · Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior · doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(79)90397-9 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Staresina, B. P., Gray, J. C., & Davachi, L. (2008) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn165 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Huijbers, W., Pennartz, C. M. A., Rubin, D. C., & Daselaar, S. M. (2011) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.02.051 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Sharp, P. E., Blair, H. T., & Brown, M. A., Sr. (1996) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-1063(1996)6:6 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
The novelty effect: Support for the Novelty‐Encoding Hypothesis
Kormi‐Nouri, R., Nilsson, L., & OHTA, N. (2005) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00443.x · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The effects of prior knowledge on the encoding of episodic contextual details
Dewitt, M. R., Knight, J. B., Hicks, J. L., & Ball, B. H. (2012) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0196-4 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Tendolkar, I., Arnold, J., Petersson, K. M., Weis, S., Brockhaus‐Dumke, A., van Eijndhoven, P., Buitelaar, J. K., & Fernández, G. (2007) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.01.040 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Murre, J. M. (1996). TraceLink: A model of amnesia and consolidation of memory. Hippocampus, 6(6), 675-684.
- van Kesteren, M. T., Rijpkema, M., Ruiter, D. J., & Fernandez, G. (2011). How a prior schema affects mnemonic processing. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Memory, York, UK.
- Watkins, M. J., & Gardiner, J. M. (1979). Appreciation of generate-recognise theory of recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18(6), 687-704.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Neurobiology of Schemas and Schema-Mediated Memory
Gilboa, A., & Marlatte, H. (2017) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2017.04.013 · Cited by 742 · see citing works
What is a memory schema? A historical perspective on current neuroscience literature
Ghosh, V. E., & Gilboa, A. (2014) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.11.010 · Cited by 529 · see citing works
Benoit, R. G., Szpunar, K. K., & Schacter, D. L. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1419274111 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Hippocampal—diencephalic—cingulate networks for memory and emotion: an anatomical guide
Bubb, E. J., Kinnavane, L., & Aggleton, J. P. (2017) · Brain and Neuroscience Advances · doi:10.1177/2398212817723443 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Memory consolidation as an adaptive process
Cowan, E. T., Schapiro, A. C., Dunsmoor, J. E., & Murty, V. P. (2021) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-021-01978-x · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Schema cells in the macaque hippocampus
Baraduc, P., Duhamel, J.-R., & Wirth, S. (2019) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aav5404 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Cowan, E., Liu, A., Henin, S., Kothare, S., Devinsky, O., & Davachi, L. (2020) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1946-19.2020 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Reagh, Z. M., & Ranganath, C. (2018) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2018.04.050 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Schema-conformant memories are preferentially consolidated during REM sleep
Durrant, S. J., Cairney, S. A., McDermott, C., & Lewis, P. A. (2015) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2015.02.011 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Naïve to expert: Considering the role of previous knowledge in memory
Alonso, A., van der Meij, J., Tse, D., & Genzel, L. (2020) · Brain and Neuroscience Advances · doi:10.1177/2398212820948686 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Medial prefrontal cortex: adding value to imagined scenarios
Lin, W.-J., Horner, A. J., Bisby, J. A., & Burgess, N. (2015) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00836 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Transient medial prefrontal perturbation reduces false memory formation
Berkers, R. M. W. J., van der Linden, M., de Almeida, R. F., Müller, N. C. J., Bovy, L., Dresler, M., Morris, R. G. M., & Fernández, G. (2017) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.015 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationEvaluating Cognitive Maps and Planning in Large Language Models with CogEval
Momennejad, I., Hasanbeig, H., Frujeri, F. V., Sharma, H., Jojic, N., Palangi, H., Ness, R., & Larson, J. (2023) · Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 36 · doi:10.52202/075280-3056 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Teacher-student neural coupling during teaching and learning
Nguyen, M., Chang, A., Micciche, E., Meshulam, M., Nastase, S. A., & Hasson, U. (2020) · doi:10.1101/2020.05.07.082958 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Sleep bolsters schematically incongruent memories
Ashton, J. E., Staresina, B. P., & Cairney, S. A. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0269439 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Schema processing across the lifespan: From theory to applications
Kan, I. P., Rosenbaum, R. S., & Verfaellie, M. (2020) · Cognitive Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/02643294.2020.1736019 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
- Authors
- van Kesteren, M. T. R., Beul, S. F., Takashima, A., Henson, R. N., Ruiter, D. J., & Fernández, G.
- Affiliations
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- Venue
- Neuropsychologia
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-10
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2352-2359
- ISSN
- 0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2120934999
- Cited by
- 298
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 9.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Radboud Universitair Medisch Centrum
- Medical Research Council
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (268800)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- schema theory, memory encoding, congruency effect, medial prefrontal cortex, medial temporal lobe, paired-associate learning, recognition memory, associative memory, prior knowledge, ventral stream, functional connectivity, memory consolidation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Association Learning, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Mental Recall, Temporal Lobe, Prefrontal Cortex, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
