ERP old/new effects at different retention intervals in recency discrimination tasks

Abstract

Recognition memory studies have suggested that event-related brain potentials (ERPs) may tap into several different memory processes. In particular, two ERP components have been hypothesized as related to familiarity (FN400 old/new effect, 300–500 ms, anterior) and recollection processes (parietal old/new effect, 400–800 ms, posterior). The functional significance of the FN400 old/new effect is uncertain because similar old/new differences have been shown to disappear at moderately long retention intervals. The present study investigated the effects of retention interval (34 min, 39 min, or 1 day) on the FN400 and parietal old/new effects in two different recency discrimination tasks. The results suggest that the FN400 old/new effect can be maintained across 1-day retention intervals, so it may index brain processes capable of contributing to long-term memory.

Publisher

Elsevier

Publication Date

1-1-2004

Publication Title

Cognitive Brain Research

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2003.09.006

Keywords

Neural basis of behavior, Cognition

Language

English

Format

text

Link to Full Text

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