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Using Virtual Scenes to Examine the Neural Correlates of Spatial Recognition Memory

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Katherine McNeely-White¹ (kmcneelywhite@ucdavis.edu), Catherine Liégeois-Chauvel², Anne Cleary³, Noah Okada⁴, Raul Castillo Astorga¹, Joseph Neisser⁵, Daniel Drane⁶, Nigel Pedersen¹; ¹University of California, Davis, ²INSERM, ³Colorado State University, ⁴California Institute of Technology, ⁵Grinnell College, ⁶Emory University

Recognizing scenes and objects is central to episodic and autobiographical memory. Despite this, the neural circuitry underpinning key recognition memory processes – familiarity and recollection – remains underdetermined. Here we present a novel scene memory paradigm that reliably probes distinct memory processes involved in scene recognition. In our task, participants encode virtual scenes from a first-person perspective. They then complete a test phase consisting of novel scenes, half of which spatially correspond to scenes presented during the encoding phase. We have manipulated the number of stimuli, scene duration, and encoding task instructions (participants engage in self-generation to describe scenes) for use with epilepsy patients. This enables the study of the neural correlates of scene recognition in the unique setting of presurgical intracranial recordings. Various facets of recognition memory can be probed using this task, including scene recall, familiarity-detection during retrieval failure, and subjective metacognitive experiences. We present data validating this paradigm in both typically-functioning and clinical epilepsy populations. Results suggest that participants can discriminate between spatially similar and spatially dissimilar test scenes based on familiarity-detection during retrieval failure. Our preliminary results show that distinct event-related potentials associated with scene recognition are observed in the anterior hippocampus and surrounding structures. This approach will enable the study of field potential correlates and unit activity in numerous pertinent brain regions that are commonly implanted with depth electrodes in this setting. Overall, the paradigm offers a unique way to measure nuanced memory processes and is suitable for both behavioral and cognitive electrophysiological research settings.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic