How we remember depends on how we practice --- The influence of practice history on memory retrieval

Abstract

Individuals typically acquire knowledge through multiple exposures. While some information is accurately remembered after a single exposure, much of it requires correction through repeated practice and feedback. How distinct brain regions support memory retrieval with different practice histories of correctness is unclear. To this end, 31 participants learned 120 Swahili–Chinese word pairs, followed by two retrieval practice–answer feedback cycles and final cued-recall tests at 10 min and 24 h. Based on participants’ performance during two practice cycles (correct or incorrect; C or I), correct responses during the final tests were categorized into three types (CCC, ICC, and IIC). The results showed that activation in the salience network and executive control network was significantly stronger for the pairs with more practice failures (i.e., IIC > ICC/CCC trials). In contrast, regions in the default mode network (DMN), especially the angular gyrus (AG), exhibited linearly increased activation and distinct representations as a function of practice success. The hippocampus had comparable activation for different types, but the posterior hippocampus showed more distinct representations for CCC than IIC trials. Moreover, the distinct representations in the AG supported memory of CCC trials by the mediation of increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the (posterior) hippocampus. These findings highlight the important role of practice history (i.e., repeated failures and success) in organizing and consolidating cortical regions and networks during memory retrieval.