The DOI matches its Crossref record; 184 of the 184 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Memory consolidation as an adaptive process
Open accessAbstract
We rely on our long-term memories to guide future behaviors, making it adaptive to prioritize the retention of goal-relevant, salient information in memory. In this review, we discuss findings from rodent and human research to demonstrate that active processes during post-encoding consolidation support the selective stabilization of recent experience into adaptive, long-term memories. Building upon literatures focused on dynamics at the cellular level, we highlight that consolidation also transforms memories at the systems level to support future goal-relevant behavior, resulting in more generalized memory traces in the brain and behavior. We synthesize previous literatures spanning animal research, human cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive psychology to propose an integrative framework for adaptive consolidation by which goal-relevant memoranda are "tagged" for subsequent consolidation, resulting in selective transformations to the structure of memories that support flexible, goal-relevant behaviors.
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“Active learning, which involves active cognitive engagement with the content, is crucial for memory consolidation and retention (Cowan et al., 2021).”
From Is it harmful or helpful? Examining the causes and consequences of generative AI usage among university students (2024) · cites this paper as Cowan et al., 2021
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Metadata
- Authors
- Cowan, E. T., Schapiro, A. C., Dunsmoor, J. E., & Murty, V. P.
- Affiliations
- Temple University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Murty, Vishnu P.
- Venue
- Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
- Published
- 2021-07-29
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1796-1810
- ISSN
- 1069-9384 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-5320
- OpenAlex
- W3184949359
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 184
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 3.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21DA043568)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Keywords
- memory consolidation, adaptive memory, memory stabilization, memory tagging, memory generalization, behavioral flexibility, long-term memory, rodent models
- MeSH terms
- Memory Consolidation, Cognitive Psychology, Animals, Brain, Motivation, Memory, Long-Term
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