Reactivation of physical motor information in the memory of action events

When attempting to memorize action sentences (e.g., open an umbrella), performing the action of the sentence (enacted encoding) results in better memory performance than simply memorizing the sentences (verbal encoding). This memory enhancement is called the enactment effect. Magnetoencephalography...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research Vol. 1101; no. 1; pp. 102 - 109
Main Authors: Masumoto, Kouhei, Yamaguchi, Masahiko, Sutani, Kouichi, Tsuneto, Satoru, Fujita, Ayako, Tonoike, Mitsuo
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Elsevier B.V 26.07.2006
Amsterdam Elsevier
New York, NY
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Mapping
Enactment effect
Female
Functional Laterality - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Magnetic field recording
Magnetoencephalography - methods
Male
Memory - physiology
Memory for action
Miscellaneous
Motor Cortex - physiology
Movement - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Reactivation
Recognition
Verbal Learning - physiology
Magnetic field recording
Memory for action
Reactivation
Enactment effect
Recognition
Human
Mental representation
Magnetoencephalography
Memory
Body movement
ISSN:0006-8993, 1872-6240
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:When attempting to memorize action sentences (e.g., open an umbrella), performing the action of the sentence (enacted encoding) results in better memory performance than simply memorizing the sentences (verbal encoding). This memory enhancement is called the enactment effect. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to elucidate whether the enactment effect is due to physical motor information or whether movement representation is the critical factor in the enactment effect. Physical motor information, which is implicated in the primary motor cortex, represents the speed, form, and kinematic sense of a movement, while movement representation indicates semantic and conceptual information such as movement formulae, movement ideas, and movement imagery, which are especially associated with the parietal cortex. We measured activities within the motor region and parietal cortex during a recognition test and compared activities during recognition with enacted and verbal encoding condition. The results showed that recognition performance was better for enacted encoding. The MEG data indicated that the left primary motor cortex with enacted encoding condition was activated in all subjects, though with verbal encoding condition, this activation appeared in only one subject. These activities were observed between 150 and 250 ms after recognition stimuli onset and were transmitted into the left parietal cortex. Moreover, activities in the right parietal cortex following enacted encoding were greater than those following verbal encoding, and the activities appeared 600–700 ms after onset of the recognition stimuli. These results suggest that the enactment effect occurs by the reactivation of the physical motor information and that this information facilitates activities related to movement representation.
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ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.05.033