Exploring the experience of episodic memory: the contribution of sensory modalities and mental imagery to vivid reliving

Rudrum, Megan (2021) Exploring the experience of episodic memory: the contribution of sensory modalities and mental imagery to vivid reliving. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Episodic memory involves a rich, vivid reliving of past events accompanied by a multitude of sensory details. The focus of this thesis was to further understand the processes that support this rich reliving in episodic memory. The study in Chapter 2 used electroencephalography (EEG) to explore differences in neural dynamics between episodic memory replay occurring in multiple modalities (audio and visual simultaneously) or just one modality (audio or visual alone). Results revealed no differences in oscillatory power across the modalities suggesting that oscillatory power may not be sensitive to modality of material for successful replay of event memory. Chapter 3 employed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to disrupt the functioning of the angular gyrus, and examined performance for recognition and source recollection, as well as confidence, to determine if interrupting multimodal feature integration impacted the subjective experience reflected in confidence of recollection. The data revealed a trend for reduced confidence of multimodal recollection following angular gyrus stimulation compared to a control site. The studies in Chapter 4 turned towards examining how individual differences may impact the experience of reliving, focusing on individuals’ ability to use object and spatial imagery to mentally picture sensory information in the mind’s eye. Results demonstrate that object imagery ability predicts a sense of reliving both for recent memories and remote memories, while spatial imagery ability is related to subjective judgements about spatially related manipulations. It establishes that
imagery ability needs to be measured as separate constructs and considered carefully in regard to what memory process is being assessed. The work conducted in this thesis has contributed to furthering understanding of the neural correlates and individual dynamics that support reliving in episodic memory as a vivid multimodal experience.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2021 11:52
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2021 11:52
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/82734
DOI:

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