Journal
COGNITION
Volume 154, Issue -, Pages 151-164Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.05.013
Keywords
Episodic memory; Event segmentation; Spatial memory; Computational modelling; Virtual reality
Categories
Funding
- Medical Research Council UK
- Wellcome Trust UK
- Wellcome Trust [202805/Z/16/Z] Funding Source: Wellcome Trust
- MRC [G1000854] Funding Source: UKRI
- Medical Research Council [G1000854] Funding Source: researchfish
- Wellcome Trust [202805/Z/16/Z] Funding Source: researchfish
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When remembering the past, we typically recall 'events' that are bounded in time and space. However, as we navigate our environment our senses receive a continuous stream of information. How do we create discrete long-term episodic memories from continuous input? Although previous research has provided evidence for a role of spatial boundaries in the online segmentation of our sensory experience within working memory, it is not known how this segmentation contributes to subsequent long-term episodic memory. Here we show that the presence of a spatial boundary at encoding (a doorway between two rooms) impairs participants' later ability to remember the order that objects were presented in. A sequence of two objects presented in the same room in a virtual reality environment is more accurately remembered than a sequence of two objects presented in adjoining rooms. The results are captured by a simple model in which items are associated to a context representation that changes gradually over time, and changes more rapidly when crossing a spatial boundary. We therefore provide the first evidence that the structure of long-term episodic memory is shaped by the presence of a spatial boundary and provide constraints on the nature of the interaction between working memory and long-term memory. (C) 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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