# Associative Processes in Episodic Memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $549,117

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 The hallmark feature of episodic memory is the ability to link events with their temporal and situational
contexts. This ability allows for memories to be truly autobiographical. Importantly, models suggest that the fate
of our memories is strongly influenced by latent reminders, reactivations, and retrievals – processes normally
invisible to the experimenter. The proposed research aims to illuminate the neural and cognitive mechanisms
underlying human episodic (contextually-mediated) memory through both computational modeling and the
analysis of intracranial and scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings taken as neurosurgical patients and
healthy adults undergo virtual reality experiences and then search their memory for material studied therein.
 We will use a model-based approach coupled with multivariate pattern analysis applied to electrophysiological
data. Our first aim is to elucidate how memory reactivation, driven by repetition of items or their contexts, shapes
subsequent recall and memory organization. We further seek to decode endogenous memory reactivation events
(rehearsal and replay) from neural data, and to determine their influence on subsequent recall behavior (Aim
2). Finally, we will connect memory retrieval and decision-making processes by investigating how behavioral
and neural retrieval dynamics shape value-based decision making. This work will serve as an important bridge
between the behavioral and neurobiological approaches to human memory.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10908359
- **Project number:** 5R01MH055687-28
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Jacob Kahana
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $549,117
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-04-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10908359

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10908359, Associative Processes in Episodic Memory (5R01MH055687-28). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10908359. Licensed CC0.

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