Neural binding mechanisms in learning and memory

Is a novel conceptual unit more than the sum of its parts?: FMRI evidence from an associative recognition memory study

“…Binder, Desai, Graves, & Conant (2009) propose that this region constitutes "an interface between lateral semantic memory and medial episodic memory encoding networks" (p. 2777). In line with this proposal we assume that the activity in the parahippocampal cortex reflects the process of linking the novel conceptual unit to preexisting knowledge about the constituents (see also Opitz, 2010b, for a related view). The increase in activation found here stands in opposition to the familiarity-related activation decrease in more anterior parts of the MTLC, i.e.…”

Working Memory Integration Processes in Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes

“…Based on our present results, it seems that the dynamic integration of spatial and verbal information in working memory is a higher-level process than the binding processes within a single modality (spatial or verbal). Opitz (2010) argues that high-level binding processes are related to not only the medio-temporal lobe, but also to the prefrontal cortical areas. Velik (2009) also distinguishes two separate binding forms: one is mediated by attention while the other can function without attention.…”

N400 ERPs for actions: building meaning in context

“…In addition, the inferior parietal lobe, as a cross-modal area, would mediate the integration of sensory, motor, and conceptual information (Seghier, 2013). Indeed, strategic connections between frontal, temporal, sensorimotor, and parietal regions involved in intentional (Waszak et al, 2012) and conceptual (Opitz, 2010) binding-related processes, such as linking actions to their predicted effects, have been proposed. Based on this account, the N400 can be seen as a neural marker that indexes the integration of current contextual cues.…”