Neural correlates of prospective memory: an EEG and ICA approach

Cruz San Martin, Gabriela Paz (2014) Neural correlates of prospective memory: an EEG and ICA approach. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Have you ever entered a room and wondered ‘What am I supposed to do here?’ or have you ever forgotten to turn off the oven, hang your clothes to dry or make a phone call. These examples illustrate the relevance of ‘prospective memory’ or ‘delayed intentions’ in our daily life activities. Prospective memory is the ability to remember to do something after a delay. This thesis addresses three questions relevant to understand maintenance and execution of intentions: Is attention required to retrieve delayed intentions? What does monitoring mean in the context of prospective memory? Is prospective memory a discrete memory system or it is based on already known attentional and memory mechanisms? To answer these questions, we used electroencephalography (EEG), in (traditional) non-movement and free-movement experimental paradigms. We explored the neural substrate of prospective memory across its different stages: (1) holding intentions during a delay, (2) detecting the right context to perform the delayed intention, and (3) retrieving the content of the intention (the action to be performed). Two types of prospective memory tasks were used: Event-based prospective memory (performing a delayed intention in response to an external cue) and time-based prospective memory (performing the intention at a particular time). Results indicate that: prospective memory always requires attention, at least in experimental contexts; monitoring involves different mechanisms depending on the particular features of the prospective memory task and; prospective memory is not a discrete memory system, but relies on well-established mechanisms for attention and executive control.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: prospective memory, EEG, ICA, monitoring, attention, cognitive control
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology; R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
• Colleges/Schools: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing; College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Supervisor's Name: Evans, Professor Jonathan and Kilborn, Dr Kerry
• Date of Award: 2014
• Depositing User: Ms Gabriela Paz Cruz San Martin
• Unique ID: glathesis:2014-5850
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 18 Dec 2014 11:29
• Last Modified: 29 Dec 2014 12:08
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/5850