Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41772059›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2026

Episodic memory encoding fluctuates at a theta rhythm of 3-10 Hz.

Thomas M Biba, Alexandra Decker, Björn Herrmann, Keisuke Fukuda, Chaim N Katz, Taufik A Valiante, Katherine Duncan

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Arousal state modulates human hippocampal ripples.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Attending to Remember: Recent Advances in Methods and Theory.Current directions in psychological science · 2025
    Article
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

7 authors.

Thomas M BibaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. thomas.biba@mail.utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8009-665X
Alexandra DeckerDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
Björn HerrmannDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6362-3043
Keisuke FukudaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Chaim N KatzFaculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Taufik A ValianteKrembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3443-3790
Katherine DuncanDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

Canada Foundation for Innovation (Fondation canadienne pour l'innovation) 34479Canada Research Chairs (Chaires de recherche du Canada) CRC-2019-00107Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles et en Génie du Canada) RGPIN-2023-04231
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Why do some experiences endure in memory better than others? Here we explore the possibility that learning fluctuates rhythmically several times per second, with fortuitously timed experiences being more memorable. Although such fleeting opportunities for encoding would evade our awareness, they are predicted by a prominent model describing how theta rhythms in the brain coordinate memory-the Separate Phases for Encoding and Retrieval (SPEAR) model. In a preregistered study, we adapted a dense sampling approach to reconstruct the millisecond time course of memory encoding in n = 125 participants. We found that memory encoding fluctuated at a theta rhythm (3-10 Hz), that these rhythms were not a by-product of rhythmic attention and that-like theta rhythms in the brain-memory rhythms were modulated by putative markers of acetylcholine. Our findings provide behavioural evidence consistent with the SPEAR model of episodic memory.

Indexed as

BrainMemory, EpisodicTheta RhythmAcetylcholineAdultAttentionFemaleHumansMaleYoung AdultAcetylcholine

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.