Combined Pharmacological and Electrophysiological Dissociation of Familiarity and Recollection

Dual-process theories of recognition memory hypothesize separate underlying familiarity and recollection processes, but the necessity of multiple processes is debated. Previous research has suggested that scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) may index the activity of separate familia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of neuroscience 2006-02, Vol.26 (7), p.1979-1985
Main Authors: Curran, Tim, DeBuse, Casey, Woroch, Brion, Hirshman, Elliot
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
Evoked Potentials - drug effects
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Female
Humans
Learning - physiology
Male
Memory - physiology
Midazolam - pharmacology
Models, Psychological
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
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Summary:Dual-process theories of recognition memory hypothesize separate underlying familiarity and recollection processes, but the necessity of multiple processes is debated. Previous research has suggested that scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) may index the activity of separate familiarity and recollection processes. Other research indicates that the amnestic drug midazolam impairs recollection more than familiarity. Here, we used a convergent pharmacological and electrophysiological approach to manipulate and monitor human brain activity and provide evidence for separate processes. Midazolam selectively influenced the putative ERP-correlate of recollection but not the putative ERP-correlate of familiarity. Under control conditions (saline), subjects' accuracy correlated with the recollection-related but not the familiarity-related ERP component, suggesting that recollection was dominant in driving memory. The opposite pattern was observed under midazolam administration, suggesting that when recollection fails, subjects may leverage familiarity to compensate. Thus, in contrast to perspectives holding that familiarity represents the default process, these results suggest that recollection was dominant until its impairment unveiled the influence of familiarity.
ISSN:0270-6474
1529-2401
DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5370-05.2006