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Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Functional Connectivity Suggests Different Retrieval Strategies for Spatial Source Memory and Color Source Memory

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Carolina E Carneiro¹ (), Haley A Fritch², Ashley C Steinkrauss¹, Robert S Ross³, Scott D Slotnick¹; ¹Boston College, ²Broad Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Harvard University, ³Johns Hopkins University

Source memory refers to retrieval of contextual information (e.g., whether an object was presented on an indoor vs. outdoor scene, red vs. green background color, or left vs. right spatial location). In an fMRI study, we previously identified a left lateral prefrontal cortex (left LPFC) region that was similarly associated with spatial source memory and color source memory (using the conjunction of spatial hits vs. new-correct rejections and color hits vs. new-correct rejections). In the present fMRI study, we examined the functional connectivity of this region of interest (ROI). During spatial memory encoding, line drawings of objects or animals were presented to the left or right of fixation. During retrieval, participants classified the previous context of word labels corresponding to old images or new images as “left”, “right”, or “new.” During color memory encoding, line drawings were presented at fixation on a red or green background. During retrieval, participants classified the previous context of old or new word labels as “red”, “green”, or “new”. Preliminary psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses, corrected for multiple comparisons, showed that the LPFC ROI was functionally connected to language processing regions during spatial source memory (including Wernicke's area and its right hemisphere homolog) and was functionally connected to visual processing regions during color source memory (including intraparietal sulcus and angular gyrus, and at a reduced spatial-extent threshold, occipital gyri and V1). These findings suggest that LPFC may facilitate switching between retrieval strategies, engaging language regions for spatial context memory and visual regions for color context memory.

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