ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neuroimaging
Sec. Neuroimaging for Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnimg.2025.1584849
Temporal specialization of the neural memory system: common and distinct neural correlates of recent and remote memory retrieval
Provisionally accepted
Rudolf Krug1
Marko Rajkovic1,2
Marco Caviezel1
Else Schneider3
Stefan Borgwardt4,5
Annette Beatrix Bruehl1,3
Undine Lang6
Christoph Linnemann1
Tobias Melcher1*- 1Center of Old Age Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- 2Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- 3Center of Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- 4University of Basel, Department of Clinical Research (DKF), University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), Translational Neurosciences, Basel, Switzerland
- 5Translational Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- 6University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Associative memory (AM) is the most basic and common memory form. It constitutes the foundation of the declarative memory system, including all semantic and episodic memory processes. However, despite numerous studies, recent and remote memory retrieval processes in AM still need further elucidation. Here, we investigated recent and remote-related AM retrieval using associative face-name pairs of famous and non-famous individuals in a population of young, healthy adults (N = 23; mean age = 23.39 years). Particular interest was placed on the prominent anterior temporal lobe (ATL) found during recent and remote memory, including the right anterior insular (aIC) cortex and posterior midline region (PMR) previously observed during associative memory retrieval. The results of the present study revealed significant bilateral activation in the anterior parts of the STG as subdivision of the ATL during recent and remote memory retrieval. In addition, bilateral aIC activation was observed exclusively during recent memory retrieval, while PMR and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activity was found only during remote memory retrieval. Thus, the present results corroborate the ATL’s role as a common hub not only for AM retrieval but also for recent and remote memory processes. In addition, the recent and remote memory retrieval systems also appear to engage distinct neurofunctional networks to enable successful retrieval of contingent face-name pairs.
Keywords: fMRI, remote memory, recent memory, Anterior Temporal Lobe, posterior midline region (PMR), Associative memory (AM)
Received: 27 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Krug, Rajkovic, Caviezel, Schneider, Borgwardt, Bruehl, Lang, Linnemann and Melcher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tobias Melcher, Center of Old Age Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.