Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32601459›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2020

Memorability of words in arbitrary verbal associations modulates memory retrieval in the anterior temporal lobe.

Weizhen Xie, Wilma A Bainbridge, Sara K Inati, Chris I Baker, Kareem A Zaghloul

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Reverse engineering what makes a symbol memorable.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  14. The role of the parahippocampal cortex in memory consolidation for scenes.Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) · 2025
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Weizhen XieSurgical Neurology Branch, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. weizhen.xie@nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4655-6496
Wilma A BainbridgeDepartment of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. wilma@uchicago.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7554-0736
Sara K InatiOffice of the Clinical Director, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7587-5085
Chris I BakerLaboratory of Brain and Cognition, NIMH, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6861-8964
Kareem A ZaghloulSurgical Neurology Branch, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. kareem.zaghloul@nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8575-3578

Funding

Investigating the neural mechanisms of human cognitive function through intracranial recordingsZIANS003144 · NINDS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE · PI ZAGHLOUL, KAREEM · 2014 to 2025
$36.1M
Object, face, body and scene representations in the human brainZIAMH002909 · NIMH · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH · PI BAKER, CHRIS · 2009 to 2025
$25.5M
Object, face and body representations in the human brainZ01MH002909 · NIMH · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH · PI BAKER, CHRISTOPHER · 2008 to 2008
$1.1M
Intramural NIH HHS Z01 MH002909Intramural NIH HHS ZIA NS003144
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite large individual differences in memory performance, people remember certain stimuli with overwhelming consistency. This phenomenon is referred to as the memorability of an individual item. However, it remains unknown whether memorability also affects our ability to retrieve associations between items. Here, using a paired-associates verbal memory task, we combine behavioural data, computational modelling and direct recordings from the human brain to examine how memorability influences associative memory retrieval. We find that certain words are correctly retrieved across participants irrespective of the cues used to initiate memory retrieval. These words, which share greater semantic similarity with other words, are more readily available during retrieval and lead to more intrusions when retrieval fails. Successful retrieval of these memorable items, relative to less memorable ones, results in faster reinstatement of neural activity in the anterior temporal lobe. Collectively, our data reveal how the brain prioritizes certain information to facilitate memory retrieval.

Indexed as

AssociationAdultBrain MappingElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleMental RecallNeuropsychological TestsTemporal Lobe

Identifiers

PMID32601459
PMCPMC7501186

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.