Skip Navigation



Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on November 24, 2004

Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhh211
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
15/8/1123    most recent
bhh211v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Doeller, C. F.
Right arrow Articles by Reith, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Doeller, C. F.
Right arrow Articles by Reith, W.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


Article

Prefrontal-hippocampal dynamics involved in learning regularities across episodes

Christian F. Doeller 1*, Bertram Opitz 1, Christoph M. Krick 2, Axel Mecklinger 1, and Wolfgang Reith 2

1 Experimental Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
2 Department of Neuroradiology, Saarland University Hospital, Homburg, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Christian F. Doeller, E-mail: c.doeller{at}mx.uni-saarland.de


   Abstract

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the neural correlates of context-specific memories and invariant memories about regularities across episodes were investigated. Volunteers had to learn conjunctions between objects and positions. In an invariant learning condition, positions were held constant, enabling subjects to learn regularities across trials. By contrast, in a context-specific condition object-position conjunctions were trial unique. Performance increase in the invariant learning condition was paralleled by a learning-related increase of inferior frontal gyrus activation and ventral striatal activation and a decrease of hippocampus activation. Conversely, in the context-specific condition hippocampal activation was constant across trials. We argue that the learning-related hippocampal activation pattern might be due to reduced relational binding requirements once regularities are extracted. Furthermore, we propose that the learning-related prefrontal modulation reflects the requirement to extract and maintain regularities across trials and the adjustment of object-position conjunctions on the basis of the extracted knowledge. Finally, our data suggest that the ventral striatum encodes the increased predictability of spatial features as a function of learning. Taken together, these results indicate a transition of the relative roles of distinct brain regions during learning regularities across multiple episodes: regularity learning is characterized by a shift from a hippocampal to a prefrontal-striatal brain system.

Keywords: fMRI; hippocampus; learning; prefrontal cortex; ventral striatum.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Cereb CortexHome page
P. Koenig, E. E. Smith, V. Troiani, C. Anderson, P. Moore, and M. Grossman
Medial Temporal Lobe Involvement in an Implicit Memory Task: Evidence of Collaborating Implicit and Explicit Memory Systems from fMRI and Alzheimer's Disease
Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2008; 18(12): 2831 - 2843.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Learn. Mem.Home page
I. Lee and F. Solivan
The roles of the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in a spatial paired-association task
Learn. Mem., May 5, 2008; 15(5): 357 - 367.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Arch Gen PsychiatryHome page
A. M. Achim, M.-C. Bertrand, H. Sutton, A. Montoya, Y. Czechowska, A. K. Malla, R. Joober, J. C. Pruessner, and M. Lepage
Selective Abnormal Modulation of Hippocampal Activity During Memory Formation in First-Episode Psychosis
Arch Gen Psychiatry, September 1, 2007; 64(9): 999 - 1014.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]



Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.