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Abstract:
Abstract: Novelty assessment is essential for survival and
normal memory functioning. However, very little is known about the
effects of stimulus novelty on memory, and we have only a limited
understanding of the brain regions involved in this process. In the
current study we examined the effects of novelty on memory using a
von Restorff paradigm that produces novelty effects that are
disrupted by perirhinal and frontal lesions (Parker, Wilding, &
Ackerman, 1998). Recognition memory was tested in healthy subjects
using a remember/know procedure to determine the influence of
novelty on overall recognition performance, and its effects on both
recollection- and familiarity-based recognition memory judgments.
Recognition was greater for novel, or isolated items, compared to
non-isolated items, and this 'novelty encoding effect' was found in
both recollection and familiarity, although the effect appeared to
be larger and more consistent in familiarity. Moreover, the novelty
effects were sensitive to the type of processing task performed
during encoding, and aged subjects exhibited slightly reduced
novelty effects compared to younger controls.
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