# Medial temporal lobe contributions to episodic memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · 2020 · $438,110

## Abstract

Project Summary
It is well known that structures in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), including the hippocampus, are necessary
for the formation, consolidation and retrieval of new episodic memories. Perhaps the most common
neuroscientific approach to understanding the brain systems supporting episodic memory is to examine
encoding and retrieval of information presented on single trials. While this approach has yielded significant
insights, it overlooks the fact that new experiences often are meaningfully related to prior experiences, and as
such, are integrated with existing knowledge so that we may retain and update our internal models of the world.
This observation raises the important questions of how we (1) store the details of individual events that are part
of a greater whole, (2) extract the structural commonalities across multiple related events that occur over gaps
in time, and (3) how knowledge structures new learning. To date, little is known about the neural mechanisms
underlying these critical aspects of episodic memory. The long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms that
support the development, representation and use of prior knowledge to bolster new episodic learning. The
objectives of the current proposal are (1) to test a model of how prior knowledge in the form of prediction about
the structure of experience can increase memory encoding by recruiting processes supported by ventromedial
PFC during new learning and (2) to test hypotheses about feature-based integration that leads memories with
similar features and contexts to evolve to have overlapping cortical representations through consolidation
mechanisms. The central aim of the project is to establish the role of vmPFC and other cortical regions in
communication with the hippocampus in mediating the benefits of new learning with prior knowledge. The
rationale for the proposed research is that a better understanding of how the memories become stabilized and
integrated over time will lead to better cognitive therapies to remediate memory loss. Under Aim 1, a variety of
measures/techniques – including behavior, fMRI, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electrocorticography
(ECoG) – will be used to examine how prior knowledge about the expected structure of an unfolding event
influences the neural mechanisms underlying the temporal encoding of event details. Aim 1's experiments will
build on this foundational research by modulating the predictability of the sequential structure of a current event
to understand how prior knowledge modulates behavior and neural processes associated with event memory.
Aim 2 will explore the initial learning of structured knowledge about related events, which involves the
integration of related information across distinct episodes. The proposed experiments will extend this work to
examine how the representation of commonalities across experiences can emerge with time via memory
consolidation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9978125
- **Project number:** 5R01MH074692-14
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** LILA DAVACHI
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $438,110
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2007-01-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9978125

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9978125, Medial temporal lobe contributions to episodic memory (5R01MH074692-14). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9978125. Licensed CC0.

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