Naturalistic recall preserves temporal specificity despite cortical feature reorganization
Although sensory input arrives in a largely continuous stream, recall is temporally compressed, discontinuous, and often structured as events. However, the temporal specificity of recall-related neural activity within events, and the separation and cortical organization of recalled features relative to perception, remain poorly characterized. We analyzed functional MRI data recorded during…
Neural activity during recall of an episode of Sherlock showed remarkable preservation of temporal specificity, despite significant reorganization of cortical features. While sensory input arrives in a continuous stream, recall is characterized by compression, discontinuity, and structuring as events. The research analyzed functional MRI data during both viewing and recall of the episode, revealing that neural activity recapitulated corresponding narrative events within recall.
Information about moments within events, particularly in association cortex, distinguished recall from perception. Features ranging from low-level visual information to semantic content predicted recall reinstatement. However, the predictive performance difference among feature levels diminished during recall, and their organization along the cortical sensory-to-association gradient reversed compared to viewing.
In summary, the study demonstrates that despite substantial reorganization of feature representations across the cortex during recall, temporal specificity within events can be preserved.
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