TY - JOUR
T1 - Does mental context drift or shift?
AU - DuBrow, Sarah
AU - Rouhani, Nina
AU - Niv, Yael
AU - Norman, Kenneth A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Theories of episodic memory have proposed that individual memory traces are linked together by a representation of context that drifts slowly over time. Recent data challenge the notion that contextual drift is always slow and passive. In particular, changes in one's external environment or internal model induce discontinuities in memory that are reflected in sudden changes in neural activity, suggesting that context can shift abruptly. Furthermore, context change effects are sensitive to top-down goals, suggesting that contextual drift may be an active process. These findings call for revising models of the role of context in memory, in order to account for abrupt contextual shifts and the controllable nature of context change.
AB - Theories of episodic memory have proposed that individual memory traces are linked together by a representation of context that drifts slowly over time. Recent data challenge the notion that contextual drift is always slow and passive. In particular, changes in one's external environment or internal model induce discontinuities in memory that are reflected in sudden changes in neural activity, suggesting that context can shift abruptly. Furthermore, context change effects are sensitive to top-down goals, suggesting that contextual drift may be an active process. These findings call for revising models of the role of context in memory, in order to account for abrupt contextual shifts and the controllable nature of context change.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.08.003
M3 - Review article
C2 - 29335678
AN - SCOPUS:85028734656
SN - 2352-1546
VL - 17
SP - 141
EP - 146
JO - Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
JF - Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
ER -