| Description |
Background: It is now well accepted that memory systems are less segregated than initially thought, and evidence suggests that different memory types can share common neural processes. There is, however, no direct empirical evidence supporting this view, and the functional role of these overlaps remains unknown. The goal of this study was to address this knowledge gap. Methods: We designed a new version of the serial reaction time (SRT) task that allowed us to examine sequence learning in both the declarative and procedural memory domains. Ten young, healthy participants (age range: 20-35, 7 female) learned a motor and an object sequence task prior to being scanned with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging while performing the learned sequences. Results: Our behavioral results indicate that participants learned the motor and object sequence tasks to the same extent prior to the scanning session. The post-scanning retest data show that both tasks were retained similarly 24h after the initial training session. Brain imaging data showed that there was no significant sequence-specific brain activity shared between the motor and object tasks. However, declarative memory domain-specific activations were observed in the premotor cortex, the cerebellum, and the occipital cortex. iii Conclusion: These preliminary results indicate that our version of the SRT task allows participants to develop memories from different domains in a single training day, reaching similar performance levels by the end of the training session and at a 24h retention test. Our preliminary brain imaging results do not support that memory from different domains share common neural processes during sequence learning. |
