Date: Wednesday, Sep 29 2021 @03:30PM -04:30PM
Title: Cognitive Control Determines the Fate of Memory Representations
Location: Online
Speaker: Tarek Amer
Abstract:
Cognitive control, or the ability to selectively focus attention on task-relevant information, while simultaneously ignoring task-irrelevant information, supports performance across a variety of tasks. While most research has focused on the relationship between cognitive control and behaviour, my work is aimed at understanding how cognitive control regulates the contents of memory. In this talk, I will present behavioural and neuroimaging evidence demonstrating that reduced cognitive control, as seen in healthy aging, influences the type of information that is encoded and retained in memory. First, I will show that reduced control is associated with enhanced memory for irrelevant information that is bound with simultaneously presented relevant information. Then, I will show that this memory effect is characterized by reduced regulation of the default mode network (DMN), a set of brain regions that are involved in internally directed cognition and are typically suppressed during externally oriented tasks, including memory encoding. Finally, I will present evidence that reduced regulation of the DMN can support memory for information that draws on prior knowledge and engages the DMN. I will end the talk by proposing future work that will investigate the contributions of cognitive control to memory formation and organization in everyday life.
Bio:
I am a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University and Harvard University working with Drs. Lila Davachi and Daniel Schacter. The aim of my research is to elucidate how cognitive control mediates the interactions between attention and memory. In particular, my work focuses on how cognitive control modulates attention at encoding and influences the nature of stored memory representations.
I graduated from the University of Toronto working under the supervision of Drs. Lynn Hasher and Cheryl Grady.