Summary: Researchers have mapped brain signals that relate to differences in human memory performance. In the largest functional imaging study of memory to date, nearly 1,500 young adults underwent fMRI while encoding 72 images, revealing brain activity patterns that correlate with how well individuals later remembered the images.
Activity in specific brain regions—most notably the hippocampus—showed a direct relationship with memory performance, while other areas involved in visual processing were active regardless of individual memory ability.
Key findings:
- The study, led by Professors Dominique de Quervain and Andreas Papassotiropoulos at the University of Basel, represents the world’s largest functional imaging investigation of episodic memory to date.
- Responsivity in memory-related brain regions such as the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate correlates with individual differences in visual episodic memory performance: stronger activation was associated with better recall.
- The researchers identified functional brain networks whose connectivity and responsivity also explain variation in memory performance, highlighting that memory arises from coordinated activity across multiple regions.
Source: University of Basel
Individual differences in memory and the brain signals that reflect them
People vary substantially in their ability to form and recall episodic memories. This study from the University of Basel addresses whether common memory-related brain regions differ in their activity when people with stronger or weaker memory form new memories. By combining high-resolution fMRI with a large, single-scanner sample, the team was able to examine brain–behavior links with greater statistical precision than prior studies.
In the experiment, 1,498 participants aged 18 to 35 viewed and attempted to memorize 72 images while undergoing MRI scanning. Later, participants tried to recall the images; as expected, recall performance varied widely across the group. The researchers then linked that variability in memory performance to differences in brain activation and functional network responsivity measured during encoding.
Regional activations tied to memory variability
The analysis showed that hippocampal activation during encoding was closely associated with subsequent memory success: individuals who later remembered more images tended to exhibit stronger hippocampal responsivity. Similar associations were identified for the orbitofrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, several visual processing regions in the lateral occipital cortex were engaged during successful encoding at the group level but did not explain differences between individuals—these regions were active across participants regardless of their recall performance.
Beyond single regions, the investigators used a network-based approach to evaluate how functional connectivity patterns relate to memory abilities. They found that the responsivity of nine distinct functional connectivity networks predicted individual differences in episodic memory, underscoring that memory performance depends on coordinated activity across distributed brain systems rather than on any single locus of activation.
Dr. Léonie Geissmann, the study’s first author, emphasized that while these group-level brain signals reveal mechanisms underlying variability in memory, a single individual’s brain response does not provide a definitive measure of their memory performance. Instead, the results point to reliable population-level relationships between neurofunctional patterns and memory ability.
The findings have practical implications for future research that aims to connect biological markers—such as genetic variation or molecular measures—to brain activity and cognitive performance. Identifying the neurofunctional signatures of memory differences helps bridge basic neuroscience and potential clinical applications.
Basel-based research program and clinical aims
This study is part of a broader research initiative within the Research Cluster Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences (MCN) at the University of Basel’s Department of Biomedicine and the University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) Basel. The cluster’s goals include deepening understanding of memory mechanisms and translating those discoveries into clinical contexts where they can inform diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies.
About this memory research news
Author: Angelika Jacobs
Source: University of Basel
Contact: Angelika Jacobs – University of Basel
Image credit: Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access. “Neurofunctional underpinnings of individual differences in visual episodic memory performance” by Dominique de Quervain et al., published in Nature Communications.
Abstract
Neurofunctional underpinnings of individual differences in visual episodic memory performance
Episodic memory—the capacity to consciously recall events and their context—differs markedly between people. While earlier fMRI studies have highlighted brain regions associated with successful encoding at the group level, they have not fully explained why memory ability varies across individuals. In this work, fMRI data from 1,498 adults performing a picture-encoding task in a single scanner reveal that individual differences in the responsivity of the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex account for variability in episodic memory performance. Although several regions, including parts of the lateral occipital cortex, are linked to successful encoding at the group level, they do not explain individual differences. A network-based analysis further links the responsivity of nine functional connectivity networks to individual memory variability. These results illuminate neurofunctional correlates of variation in visual episodic memory and provide a foundation for future studies connecting brain signals to biological markers.