Neural Markers of Forgetting

Forgetting is a natural and important process, but what does it actually look like in the brain? To find out, we measure brain activity while participants complete memory tasks, using tools like electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Understanding how context is represented in the brain, and how that representation shifts over time, requires more than tracking overall changes in neural activity. We also need to examine distributed patterns of activity, using techniques like multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and representational similarity analysis (RSA). We additionally use EEG frequency tagging, a technique for tagging a stimulus with a distinct neural signal, to track how specific contextual details are reactivated or forgotten over the course of a study. These tools let us see forgetting unfold moment to moment, not just measure its aftermath.