Neural Substrates of Episodic Memory

Introduction

Episodic memories refer to consciously recollected memories, which are related to previously experienced events. In other words, episodic remembering is regarded as a dynamic process, which significantly draws upon the cognitive abilities associated with both mnemonic and non-mnemonic, in a bid to mentally reconstruct past experiences from their retrieval cues (Addis et al., 2007). Neural substrates of such abilities significantly represent an evenly distributed set of specific functional nervous structures in the system, which operate in concert. This paper purposes to provide a literature review, focusing on the title, “Neural substrates of episodic memory. This is as provided below: In accordance with the writings of Beaty & Schacter (2018), they point out that memory development in humans is predominantly involving an increasingly skilled form of encoding, as well as retention of the representations of the features of complex events. This then provides the ability to remember and also encode episode. Scholars such as David & Pierre (2009) and Hassabis & Maguire (2007) note that neural substrates that are associated with the episodic memory development, which is noted to be germane in the understanding of the development of such an important function. Whilst the strategically emphasis, as well as the metacognition purposes to highlight the development of episodic memory, which fundamentally depends of various changes in the control processes, as such neural mechnism examination will significantly underscore the roles of these changes in the mechanisms that are in line with associative binding. According to David & Pierre (2009), in order to recall the detailed experiences of a past, the human brain needs to process various specific features that are present in a particula event, and as such, be able to bind them in such a way that purposes to specify the significant spatiotemporal contex that the specific features were encountered. In this regard, Kapur et al. (2016) states that an adult brain network that is distributed include the following; first, the hippocampus, secondly, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and finally, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which supports their episodic memory. Notably, the hippocampus is a structur, found within a human's medial temporal lobes and it is critical in the formation and retrieval of representations, which significantly integrates various diverse aspects that form the features of an event such as the bound representations.

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On the other hand, Schacter et al. (2015), along with Zeidman & Maguire (2016) agree with the fact that the perirhinal cortex, as well as the posterior parahippocampal gyrus that are surrounding the hippocampus alongside the anterior or the posterior axis, send significant signals to the hippocampus. This is for it to be able to represent vital information regarding events (for example the perirhinal cortex), as well as context (for example the posterior parahippocampal gyrus), in order to be bound, precisely in the hippocampus. Moreover, David & Pierre (2009) point out that the imaging of the functional magnetic resonance provides an indication in adults, which bring forth the suggestion that the interior hippocampus has major role in the encoding, as well as retrieval of representations that are flexibly bound. On the contrary, posterior hippocampus is associated with the establishment, as well as retrieval of an information, which has a fixed perceptual of the episode (Hassabis & Maguire, 2007). On the contrary to the hippocampus, it is evident that the lateral PFC, purposes to support controlled processes, which guide the encoding, as well as monitoring of the retrieval of representations that are bound. In addition, several regions found in the PPC are implicated in retrieval, as well as episodic encoding (Kapur et al., 2016).

It is also significant to note that the hippocampus has a rapid development in an individual’s first years of life and this is noted to be more subtly thereafter. This is because the hippocampal volumes are doubled in an individual from birt until an individual covers the first year and are further increased within the second year (Kapur et al., 2016). Notably, after few years, there are volumetric changes, which are limited and the hippocampus then establishes the basic function, necessary in the tri-synaptic circuit. According to the writings of Addis et al. (2007), it is clear that this circuit provides a major pathway in the hippocampus. It also feeds into different pathways that carry signals to both the frontal lobes and the parietal. Such an early development supports the emergence and development of episodic memory in children, which then provides a hypothetical understanding that hippocampal changes arespecifically significant for episodic memory especially during early childhood as compared to adulthood in an individual’s life (Hassabis & Maguire, 2007). As such, it is worth noting that the behavioral episodic memory improvements are often observed in the course of early childhood, and this depends of cortical development that is primarily happening in the prefrontal cortex.

However, some other fine-grained analysis reveal that the micro-structure associated with hippocampus significantly continues to be well matured beyond an individual’s early years. Moreover, the writings of Beaty & Schacter (2018) provide evidence, which also indicates that whilst the hippocampal volume is averagely stable beyondthe early stages, the anterior hippocampus often losses mass, whereas the posterior hippocampal purposes to gain mass that is ranging from the age of 4 to the 25th. As such, it could be deduced that the size reduction of the anterior hippocampus reflects the synaptic pruning; On the contrary, volume the hippocampus volume that increases may be a reflection of neurogenesis, myelination, or even synaptic elaboration (Kapur et al., 2016).

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Conclusion

This literature review brings forth the idea that episodic memory is vital in every human, owing to the fact that it plays key roles such as encoding, storage, as well as retrieval of individual past experiences in events. In line with this, the paper discusses the neural substrates of episodic memory, and it is evident that cognitive abilities of the episodic memory represent various specific functional nerves in the system, which operates in a concert. The emergence of Episodic memory is based on the development of a significant brain network that includes the hippocampus, the prefrontal context, as well as the posterior parietal cortex. The changes in the brain region, and the changes noted in the long-range connectivity that are seen among these major players are already documented. However, a significant assessment related to the relationship between network development and behavioral changes is yet to be undertaken.

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References

Addis, D. R., Wong, A. T., & Schacter, D. L. (2007). Remembering the past and imagining the future: common and distinct neural substrates during event construction and elaboration. Neuropsychologia, 45(7), 1363-1377.

Beaty, R. E., & Schacter, D. L. (2018). 14 Episodic Memory and Cognitive Control: Contributions to Creative Idea Production. The Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity, 249.

Kapur, S., Craik, F. I., Tulving, E., Wilson, A. A., Houle, S., & Brown, G. M. (2016). 12 Neuroanatomical Correlates of Encoding in Episodic Memory. Memory, Attention, and Aging: Selected Works of Fergus IM Craik, 251.

Schacter, D. L., Benoit, R. G., De Brigard, F., & Szpunar, K. K. (2015). Episodic future thinking and episodic counterfactual thinking: Intersections between memory and decisions. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 117, 14-21.

Zeidman, P., & Maguire, E. A. (2016). Anterior hippocampus: the anatomy of perception, imagination and episodic memory. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(3), 173.

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