# Oscillatory mechanisms of context dependent cognitive maps in human memory

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2022 · $198,125

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
How does memory guide our choices in particular locations and contexts? How does our brain accomplish
this? Memory, navigation, and context dependent decision-making are essential for adaptive human behavior
and are impaired in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. This proposal aims to identify the basic
mechanisms mediating context dependent memory representations in the human brain towards advancing
refined therapeutic tools for memory enhancement in clinical populations. More specifically, this proposal will
investigate the neural basis of context dependent memory encoding and retrieval, behavior that enables us to
flexibly act in the world according to particular situations. Influential human brain imaging and lesion studies
have identified that the hippocampus (HPC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), along with their
interactions, are where memory and navigational computations take place. However, these studies have poor
temporal resolution and do not directly measure electrical activity. Thus, we don't understand how context
dependent memories are formed and retrieved in humans. The proposed experiments will utilize direct human
brain recordings from HPC and mPFC in epilepsy patients undergoing invasive seizure monitoring to yield new
insight into the electrophysiological basis of human memory. Patients perform a context dependent learning
and memory task in which objects are associated with different rewards depending on context. The task is
embedded in a virtual environment, enabling comparisons of neural signatures of both spatial navigation and
associative memory. We hypothesize that synchronous, “phase coded” oscillatory activity within and between
the HPC and mPFC supports context dependent memory. Aiming to identify the unique and overlapping
electrophysiological mechanisms mediating context dependent representations, this proposal is likely to
transform our understanding of how the human brain coordinates its activity in the service of adaptive human
behavior. This work will also shed new light on how the human brain utilizes complex, context dependent
associations to provide insight into putative mechanisms mediating impairments in several clinical populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10443865
- **Project number:** 5R21MH127842-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Alison R Preston
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $198,125
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-02 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10443865

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10443865, Oscillatory mechanisms of context dependent cognitive maps in human memory (5R21MH127842-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10443865. Licensed CC0.

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