Remembering what is relevant: how is goal-directed memory reactivation supported by attentional selection?

Goal-directed memory reactivation involves retrieving the most relevant information for the current behavioral goal. Previous research has linked this process to activations in the fronto-parietal network, but the underlying selection mechanisms remain poorly understood. The current electroencephalogram (EEG) study investigates attention as a possible mechanism supporting goal-directed retrieval. Participants learned associations between objects and two screen locations in an episodic long-term memory experiment. In a following phase, we changed the relevance of some locations to simulate goal-directed retrieval. This was subsequently contrasted to a control condition, in which the original associations remained unchanged. Behavior performance measured during final retrieval revealed faster and more confident responses in the selective vs. neutral condition. At the EEG level, we found significant differences in decoding accuracy, with above-chance effects in the selective cue condition but not in the neutral cue condition. Additionally, we observed a stronger posterior contralateral negativity and lateralized alpha power in the selective cue condition. Overall, these results suggest that attentional selection enhances task-relevant information accessibility, emphasizing its role in goal-directed memory retrieval.