# A Neurocognitive Basis of Remembering Driven by Prior Semantic Knowledge

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2024 · $241,530

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 A central issue in the research of memory is how the brain integrates information available in the
environment with our prior knowledge from past experiences to facilitate memory formation and retrieval.
The current project approaches this issue by examining how perceptual features and prior knowledge
contribute to the likelihood that a stimulus can be remembered by any given observer, a phenomenon
often attributed to stimulus memorability. The long-term goal of this project is to foster the applicant’s
development as an independent investigator focused on the mechanisms of memory formation and
retrieval to develop mechanism-based interventions for memory deficits in aging and cognitive diseases.
The overall objective of this project is to elucidate how prior knowledge contributes to stimulus
memorability by allowing the applicant to obtain further training in memory research at the NIH based on
computational modeling of large-scale behavioral data (with Chris Baker) and analyses of fine-scale
neural data (with Kareem Zaghloul). In contrast to the traditional view that memorability is merely a
perceptual attribute of stimuli irrespective of observers’ prior knowledge, the central hypothesis of this
proposal is that prior knowledge represented in semantic imbued brain regions, such as the anterior
temporal lobe (ATL), makes remembering more likely irrespective of stimulus perceptual features
processed in inferotemporal regions. The rationale for this project is that determining the mechanisms for
memorability will inform how memory is efficiently formed and retrieved, thereby improved diagnoses and
interventions for memory deficits can be developed. Meanwhile, this project will also provide the
applicant with the means to establish early research independence. The central hypothesis will be tested
with these specific aims: 1) Specify how semantic features contribute to stimulus memorability (K99); 2)
Characterize fine-scale neural mechanisms underlying semantic contributions to stimulus memorability
(K99-R00); 3) Manipulate memorability via training and brain stimulation (R00). Based on large-scale
behavioral data, Aim 1 will model and isolate the contributions of semantic features to the memorability
of scene images, where both perceptual and semantic features are available to support memory. Aim 2
will use multi-level direct recording of temporal lobe activity in humans to determine how the ATL
underlies semantic contributions to stimulus memorability. Aim 3 will investigate the causal relationship
between prior semantic knowledge and memorability via behavioral training and electrical stimulation
over the ATL. This project is innovative because it will establish a novel neurocognitive mechanism for
memorability driven by prior semantic knowledge using innovative tools that address the limitations
inherent to other methods. This project is significant because it will ultimately have a positive impact on
promoting better...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11163197
- **Project number:** 4R00NS126492-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Weizhen Xie
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $241,530
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11163197

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11163197, A Neurocognitive Basis of Remembering Driven by Prior Semantic Knowledge (4R00NS126492-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11163197. Licensed CC0.

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