Disrupting the Congruency Memory Effect: a rTMS Study

The ability to integrate prior knowledge with novel information and vice versa is one remarkable characteristic of human intelligence. It ensures the elaboration of semantic knowledge through the extraction of commonalities between multiple events and guides contextually optimal behavior. It has long been established that the existence of prior knowledge (or schema representation) to which new information can be related facilitates memory encoding, consolidation and retrieval. Nowadays schema is interpreted as a network of strongly interrelated neocortical representations, which can influence information processing. Recent studies highlighted the important role of medial prefrontal cortex mPFC in establishing of congruency between representations and its facilitatory effect on memory on different stages such as encoding, consolidation, retrieval and memory-based guiding behavior. However, previos studies used correlational approach. In our study we tried to modulate congruency benefit effect using non-invasive brain stimulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) delivered by continuous bursts at theta-rhythm (cTBS) for 20 s. Preliminary findings on 8 participants showed a trend to general facilitatory effect of cTBS on item recognition and on retrieval of incongruent associations. Supposedly this effect may be due to interfering rapid schema-linked consolidation provided by neural circuits in medial prefrontal cortex.