Inducing a mental context for associative memory formation with real-time fMRI neurofeedback

Abstract

Memory, one of the hallmarks of human cognition, can be modified when humans voluntarily modulate single neuron or neural population activity using neurofeedback. However, it is currently unknown whether memory is facilitated or impaired after such neural perturbation. In this study, participants memorized objects while we trained them with abstract neurofeedback to modulate their brain activity patterns in the ventral visual stream to represent either faces or houses. The neurofeedback created an implicit face or house context in the brain while memorizing the objects. The results revealed that participants created associations between each memorized object and its implicit context solely due to the neurofeedback manipulation. Our findings shed light onto how memory formation can be influenced by synthetic memory tags with neurofeedback and advance our understanding of mnemonic processing.