VOLUME LXVII | JUL 2022

Readiness to remember: predicting variability in episodic memory

Our ability to learn and remember is like a puzzle, with many pieces coming together to form the full picture. While forgetting is often seen as a result of our brain’s failure, recent research suggests that the key to remembering lies in our preparatory processes. Just as we prepare ourselves before embarking on a challenging journey, our brains go through preparatory attention, goal coding, and mnemonic processes before encoding or retrieving memories. These processes not only play a role during learning but also have a powerful influence on memory success or failure during retrieval attempts. Neuroimaging, electroencephalography, pupillometry, and behavioral science have provided valuable insights into the dynamics of memory retrieval. By understanding the interactions among these processes, researchers hope to develop an integrative framework that explains why some memories are more easily recalled than others and why memory abilities vary from person to person. To delve deeper into this fascinating topic and uncover the secrets of memory, we encourage you to explore the full article!

Li Wei Chen

Li Wei is a Chinese-Canadian neuroscientist in Vancouver, studying brain plasticity and lifelong learning. He contributes articles on harnessing neurotechnology to expand human capabilities, drawing from his experiences in cross-cultural innovation hubs.

Learning and remembering are fundamental to our lives, so what causes us to forget? Answers often highlight preparatory processes that precede learning, as well as mnemonic processes during the act of encoding or retrieval. Importantly, evidence now indicates that preparatory processes that precede retrieval attempts also have powerful influences on memory success or failure. Here, we review recent work from neuroimaging, electroencephalography, pupillometry, and behavioral science to propose an integrative framework of retrieval-period dynamics that explains variance in remembering in the moment and across individuals as a function of interactions among preparatory attention, goal coding, and mnemonic processes.
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