Individual Differences in the Engagement of the Cortex during an Episodic Memory Task

Abstract

There is a wealth of information at the individual level regarding the neural basis of episodic memory that may be lost by relying on group averages. The topography of brain activity underlying an episodic memory task is enormously variable from individual to individual. Despite this variability, individual patterns of brain activity are relatively stable over time. This stability suggests that there are systematic factors, either cognitive or physiological, between individuals that can account for the variability. We have found that individual differences in memory strategy, as well as other factors, can account for a significant portion of the variance between individuals in their patterns of brain activity. These findings demonstrate that, while performance of a typical episodic memory task engages widespread specialized brain regions throughout most of the cortex, different strategies may differentially engage these various brain regions.