Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
ARTICLE, Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive

What Neural Correlates Underlie Successful Encoding and Retrieval? A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Using a Divided Attention Paradigm

Elizabeth A. Kensinger, Richard J. Clarke and Suzanne Corkin
Journal of Neuroscience 15 March 2003, 23 (6) 2407-2415; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-06-02407.2003
Elizabeth A. Kensinger
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Richard J. Clarke
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Suzanne Corkin
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, and
2Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

If attention is divided during learning, memory suffers. Nevertheless, individuals can learn information with divided attention. This event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study (n = 17) investigated what neural processes support (1) learning with divided attention and (2) retrieval of information learned with divided attention. Participants encoded words (Is the word abstract or concrete?) while performing an auditory discrimination task (press a button whenever an auditory pattern changes). The auditory task was easy or hard, depending on the similarity of the patterns. A behavioral study indicated that detailed (“recollective”) information was more likely to be present for words encoded with the easy versus the hard concurrent task. Words encoded with the hard versus the easy concurrent task, in contrast, were more likely to rely on less detailed (“familiarity”-based) information. fMRI revealed encoding-related activation in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) and left hippocampus that was linked to successful memory formation only for items encoded with the easy task. In contrast, activation in the right PFC and left parahippocampal gyrus was linked to successful memory for all items. Thus, successful encoding with the hard concurrent task was supported by a subset of the regions recruited for successful encoding with the easy task. The neural processes recruited for successful retrieval also depended on the encoding condition: The left PFC was disproportionately recruited for retrieval of items encoded with the easy task, whereas the right PFC was disproportionately recruited for retrieval of items encoded with the hard task. These findings may reflect left-sided specialization for recollective memories and right-sided specialization for familiarity-based traces.

  • divided attention
  • explicit memory
  • encoding
  • retrieval
  • dual task
  • neuroimaging
  • prefrontal cortex
  • human
View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 23 (6)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 23, Issue 6
15 Mar 2003
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
What Neural Correlates Underlie Successful Encoding and Retrieval? A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Using a Divided Attention Paradigm
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
What Neural Correlates Underlie Successful Encoding and Retrieval? A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Using a Divided Attention Paradigm
Elizabeth A. Kensinger, Richard J. Clarke, Suzanne Corkin
Journal of Neuroscience 15 March 2003, 23 (6) 2407-2415; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-06-02407.2003

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
What Neural Correlates Underlie Successful Encoding and Retrieval? A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Using a Divided Attention Paradigm
Elizabeth A. Kensinger, Richard J. Clarke, Suzanne Corkin
Journal of Neuroscience 15 March 2003, 23 (6) 2407-2415; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-06-02407.2003
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • divided attention
  • explicit memory
  • encoding
  • retrieval
  • dual task
  • neuroimaging
  • prefrontal cortex
  • human

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

ARTICLE

  • Dynamic GABAA Receptor Subtype-Specific Modulation of the Synchrony and Duration of Thalamic Oscillations
  • Long-Term Depression Is Not Induced by Low-Frequency Stimulation in Rat Visual Cortex In Vivo: A Possible Preventing Role of Endogenous Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
  • Electrophysiological Imaging of Functional Architecture in the Cortical Middle Temporal Visual Area of Cebus apella Monkey
Show more ARTICLE

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive

  • Musical Expertise Induces Audiovisual Integration of Abstract Congruency Rules
  • The Laminar Development of Direction Selectivity in Ferret Visual Cortex
  • Individual Differences in Amygdala-Medial Prefrontal Anatomy Link Negative Affect, Impaired Social Functioning, and Polygenic Depression Risk
Show more Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.