Imaging the Reconstruction of True and False Memories Using Sensory Reactivation and the Misinformation Paradigms

Abstract

Many current theories of false memories propose that, when we retrieve a memory, we are not reactivating a vertical, fixed representation of a past event, but are rather reactivating incomplete fragments that may be accurate or distorted and may have arisen from other events. By presenting the two phases of the misinformation paradigm in different modalities, we could observe sensory reactivation of the auditory and visual cortex during the retrieval phase. Overall, true and false memories showed similar brain activation, but could be distinguished by this reactivation. This was true only in the early regions of the sensory cortex.