Elizabeth H. Hall

Bio: Elizabeth H. Hall is an academic researcher from University of California, Davis. The author has contributed to research in topics: Recall & Encoding (memory). The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 5 publications receiving 79 citations.

Drawings of real-world scenes during free recall reveal detailed object and spatial information in memory

Abstract: Understanding the content of memory is essential to teasing apart its underlying mechanisms. While recognition tests have commonly been used to probe memory, it is difficult to establish what specific content is driving performance. Here, we instead focus on free recall of real-world scenes, and quantify the content of memory using a drawing task. Participants studied 30 scenes and, after a distractor task, drew as many images in as much detail as possible from memory. The resulting memory-based drawings were scored by thousands of online observers, revealing numerous objects, few memory intrusions, and precise spatial information. Further, we find that visual saliency and meaning maps can explain aspects of memory performance and observe no relationship between recall and recognition for individual images. Our findings show that not only is it possible to quantify the content of memory during free recall, but those memories contain detailed representations of our visual experiences.

Distinct Representational Structure and Localization for Visual Encoding and Recall during Visual Imagery.

Abstract: During memory recall and visual imagery, reinstatement is thought to occur as an echoing of the neural patterns during encoding. However, the precise information in these recall traces is relatively unknown, with previous work primarily investigating either broad distinctions or specific images, rarely bridging these levels of information. Using ultra-high-field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging with an item-based visual recall task, we conducted an in-depth comparison of encoding and recall along a spectrum of granularity, from coarse (scenes, objects) to mid (e.g., natural, manmade scenes) to fine (e.g., living room, cupcake) levels. In the scanner, participants viewed a trial-unique item, and after a distractor task, visually imagined the initial item. During encoding, we observed decodable information at all levels of granularity in category-selective visual cortex. In contrast, information during recall was primarily at the coarse level with fine-level information in some areas; there was no evidence of mid-level information. A closer look revealed segregation between voxels showing the strongest effects during encoding and those during recall, and peaks of encoding-recall similarity extended anterior to category-selective cortex. Collectively, these results suggest visual recall is not merely a reactivation of encoding patterns, displaying a different representational structure and localization from encoding, despite some overlap.

Eye Movements in Real-World Scene Photographs: General Characteristics and Effects of Viewing Task.

Abstract: The present study examines eye movement behavior in real-world scenes with a large (N = 100) sample. We report baseline measures of eye movement behavior in our sample, including mean fixation duration, saccade amplitude, and initial saccade latency. We also characterize how eye movement behaviors change over the course of a 12 s trial. These baseline measures will be of use to future work studying eye movement behavior in scenes in a variety of literatures. We also examine effects of viewing task on when and where the eyes move in real-world scenes: participants engaged in a memorization and an aesthetic judgment task while viewing 100 scenes. While we find no difference at the mean-level between the two tasks, temporal- and distribution-level analyses reveal significant task-driven differences in eye movement behavior.

Distinct representational structure and localization for visual encoding and recall during visual imagery

Abstract: During memory recall and visual imagery, reinstatement is thought to occur as an echoing of the neural patterns during encoding. However, the precise information represented in these recall traces is relatively unknown, with previous work investigating broad distinctions (scenes versus objects) or individual images, rarely bridging these levels of information. Using ultra-high-field (7T) fMRI with an item-based visual recall task, we conducted an in-depth comparison of encoding and recall along a spectrum of granularity, from broad stimulus class (scenes, objects) to object or scene type (natural, manmade) to individual categories (living room, cupcake). In the scanner, participants viewed a trial-unique item, and after a distractor task, visually imagined the initial item. During encoding, we observed decodable information at all levels of granularity in category-selective visual cortex, while during recall, only stimulus class was decodable. A closer look revealed a segregation between those voxels showing the strongest effects during encoding and those during visual recall. Finally, in a whole-brain analysis, we find peaks of encoding-recall similarity in regions anterior to category-selective cortex. Collectively, these results suggest visual recall is not merely a reactivation of encoding patterns, displaying a different granularity of information and localization from encoding, despite some overlap.

Distinct representational structure and spatial distribution for visual encoding and recall

Abstract: During memory recall, reinstatement is thought to occur as an echoing of the neural patterns during encoding. However, the precise information represented in these recall traces is relatively unknown, with previous work investigating broad distinctions (e.g. scenes versus objects) or individual images, rarely bridging these levels of information. Further, prior work has primarily used cued recall tasks, where this memory trace may reflect a combination of a cue, its paired stimulus, and their association. Using ultra-high-field (7T) fMRI with an item-based recall task, we conducted an in-depth comparison of encoding and recall along a spectrum of granularity, from broad stimulus class (scenes, objects) to object or scene type (e.g., natural, manmade) to individual categories (e.g. living room, cupcake). In the scanner, human participants viewed a trial-unique item, followed by a distractor task, and then visually recalled the initial item. During encoding, we observed decodable information at all levels of granularity in category-selective visual cortex. Conversely, during recall, only stimulus class was decodable in these cortical regions, with the exception of the medial place area. In hippocampus, information was only decodable during perception and only for stimulus class. A closer look within category-selective cortex revealed a segregation between voxels showing the strongest effects during encoding and during recall. Finally, in a whole-brain analysis, we find the strongest evidence for encoding-recall similarity in regions anterior to category-selective cortex. Collectively, these results suggest recall is not merely a reactivation of encoding patterns, displaying a different granularity of information and spatial distribution from encoding.

Remembering. A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, Cambridge (University Press) 1964.

Abstract: Part I. Experimental Studies: 2. Experiment in psychology 3. Experiments on perceiving III Experiments on imaging 4-8. Experiments on remembering: (a) The method of description (b) The method of repeated reproduction (c) The method of picture writing (d) The method of serial reproduction (e) The method of serial reproduction picture material 9. Perceiving, recognizing, remembering 10. A theory of remembering 11. Images and their functions 12. Meaning Part II. Remembering as a Study in Social Psychology: 13. Social psychology 14. Social psychology and the matter of recall 15. Social psychology and the manner of recall 16. Conventionalism 17. The notion of a collective unconscious 18. The basis of social recall 19. A summary and some conclusions.

Memorability of words in arbitrary verbal associations modulates memory retrieval in the anterior temporal lobe.

Abstract: Despite large individual differences in memory performance, people remember certain stimuli with overwhelming consistency This phenomenon is referred to as the memorability of an individual item However, it remains unknown whether memorability also affects our ability to retrieve associations between items Here, using a paired-associates verbal memory task, we combine behavioural data, computational modelling and direct recordings from the human brain to examine how memorability influences associative memory retrieval We find that certain words are correctly retrieved across participants irrespective of the cues used to initiate memory retrieval These words, which share greater semantic similarity with other words, are more readily available during retrieval and lead to more intrusions when retrieval fails Successful retrieval of these memorable items, relative to less memorable ones, results in faster reinstatement of neural activity in the anterior temporal lobe Collectively, our data reveal how the brain prioritizes certain information to facilitate memory retrieval Xie et al combine evidence from behavioural data, computational modelling and intracranial electroencephalogram methods to show that the human brain prioritizes certain information to facilitate associative memory retrieval

Echoes of Emotions Past: How Neuromodulators Determine What We Recollect.

Abstract: We tend to re-live emotional experiences more richly in memory than more mundane experiences. According to one recent neurocognitive model of emotional memory, negative events may be encoded with a larger amount of sensory information than neutral and positive events. As a result, there may be more perceptual information available to reconstruct these events at retrieval, leading to memory reinstatement patterns that correspond with greater memory vividness and sense of recollection for negative events. In this commentary, we offer an alternative perspective on how emotion may influence such sensory cortex reinstatement that focuses on engagement of the noradrenergic (NE) and dopaminergic (DA) systems rather than valence. Specifically, we propose that arousal-related locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system activation promotes the prioritization of the most salient features of an emotional experience in memory. Thus, a select few details may drive lower-level sensory cortical activity and a stronger sense of recollection for arousing events. By contrast, states of high behavioral activation, including novelty-seeking and exploration, may recruit the DA system to broaden the scope of cognitive processing and integrate multiple event aspects in memory. These more integrated memory representations may be reflected in higher-order cortical reinstatement at retrieval. Thus, the balance between activation in these neuromodulatory systems at encoding, rather than the valence of the event, may ultimately determine the quality of emotional memory recollection and neural reinstatement.

Memorability: How what we see influences what we remember

Abstract: Everyone has a unique set of individual experiences that make up their memories. However, we all also continuously encounter some items that are incredibly easy to remember and others that are too easy to forget. Indeed, recent work has found that the intrinsic memorability of an image can be quantified and used to predict memory behavior broadly across people, despite our diverse experiences. In this chapter, I describe memorability as an intrinsic stimulus property from the perspectives of psychology, neuroscience, and real-world applications. First, I compare past and new perspectives on memorability as a means to quantify an image. I discuss how it relates to other stimulus attributes and other cognitive phenomena such as attention and cognitive control, and show that memorability effects are largely distinct. Next, I describe the current understanding based on recent neuroimaging research of how, where, and when the brain distinguishes memorable versus forgettable images. Finally, I explore real-world applications of memorability in clinical and computational modeling domains, and present potential avenues for future exploration.