ArticleeLife2022
Phase separation of competing memories along the human hippocampal theta rhythm.
Article in eLife, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- Hippocampal mechanisms underlying the resolution of competition in memory and perception.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Rhythmic stimulation elicits multiple, concurrent neural responses.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Article
- Episodic memory encoding fluctuates at a theta rhythm of 3-10 Hz.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- Alpha Oscillations Track the Projection of Reactivated Memories into Conscious Awareness.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Article
- Switching on the behavioral and neural rhythmicity to retrieve memories when the number of retained items exceeds four.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Contents of Visual Predictions Oscillate at Alpha Frequencies.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Development of the SPEAR Model: Separate Phases of Encoding and Retrieval Are Necessary for Storing Multiple Overlapping Associative Memories.Hippocampus · 2025Review
- Successful Prediction Is Associated With Enhanced Encoding.Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science · 2025Article
- On the ability of standard and brain-constrained deep neural networks to support cognitive superposition: a position paper.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2024Article
- The neural basis of attentional selection in goal-directed memory retrieval.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A reduction in self-reported confidence accompanies the recall of memories distorted by prototypes.Communications psychology · 2024Article
- Engram mechanisms of memory linking and identity.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Reactivation strength during cued recall is modulated by graph distance within cognitive maps.eLife · 2024Article
- No evidence that visual impulses enhance the readout of retrieved long-term memory contents from EEG activity.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Memory Encoding and Memory Retrieval States.Journal of cognitive neuroscience · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Competition between overlapping memories is considered one of the major causes of forgetting, and it is still unknown how the human brain resolves such mnemonic conflict. In the present magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, we empirically tested a computational model that leverages an oscillating inhibition algorithm to minimise overlap between memories. We used a proactive interference task, where a reminder word could be associated with either a single image (non-competitive condition) or two competing images, and participants were asked to always recall the most recently learned word-image association. Time-resolved pattern classifiers were trained to detect the reactivated content of target and competitor memories from MEG sensor patterns, and the timing of these neural reactivations was analysed relative to the phase of the dominant hippocampal 3 Hz theta oscillation. In line with our pre-registered hypotheses, target and competitor reactivations locked to different phases of the hippocampal theta rhythm after several repeated recalls. Participants who behaviourally experienced lower levels of interference also showed larger phase separation between the two overlapping memories. The findings provide evidence that the temporal segregation of memories, orchestrated by slow oscillations, plays a functional role in resolving mnemonic competition by separating and prioritising relevant memories under conditions of high interference.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.