An investigation of the effects of relative probability of old and new test items on the neural correlates of successful and unsuccessful source memory

The present event-related fMRI study addressed the question whether retrieval-related neural activity in lateral parietal cortex is affected by the relative probability of test items. We varied the proportion of old to new items across two test blocks, with 25% of the items being old in one block and 75% being old in the other. Prior to each block, participants (N=18) completed one of two types of study judgment on each of 108 object images. They then performed a source memory test with four response options: studied in task 1, studied in task 2, old but unsure of the study task, and new. Retrieval-related activity in regions previously identified as recollection-sensitive, including the left inferior lateral parietal cortex and bilateral medial temporal cortex, was unaffected by old/new ratio. Generic retrieval success effects – retrieval-related effects common to recognized items attracting either a correct or an incorrect source judgment – were identified in several regions of left superior parietal cortex. These effects dissociated between a middle region of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), where activity did not interact with ratio, and regions anterior and posterior to the middle IPS where activity was sensitive to old/new ratio. The findings are inconsistent with prior proposals that retrieval-related activity in and around the left middle IPS reflects the relative salience of old and new test items. Rather, they suggest that, as in the case of more inferior left parietal regions, retrieval-related activity in this region reflects processes directly linked to retrieval.