How do we process event-based and time-based intentions in the brain? an fMRI study of prospective memory in healthy individuals

Gonneaud, Julie; Rauchs, Géraldine; Groussard, Mathilde; Landeau, Brigitte; Mézenge, Florence; de La Sayette, Vincent; Eustache, Francis; Desgranges, Béatrice · 2013 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22385

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the neural substrates of prospective memory (PM), specifically comparing event-based PM (EBPM) and time-based PM (TBPM). While the distinction between these two forms of PM is well-established in behavioral literature, their shared and distinct brain mechanisms remain poorly understood, as most prior neuroimaging research focused exclusively on EBPM. The authors aimed to characterize the similarities and differences in brain activation during EBPM and TBPM within the same group of healthy young adults, using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm designed to equate the difficulty and strategic demands of both conditions. The experiment involved 20 healthy participants who performed a semantic categorization task (classifying images as "natural" or "manmade") while maintaining prospective intentions. In the EBPM condition, participants responded to specific visual cues (colored borders), whereas in the TBPM condition, they responded after fixed 30-second intervals, aided by an on-screen countdown. This design minimized confounding variables such as cue distinctiveness and time-estimation difficulty. fMRI data were acquired using a 3.0 T scanner, and statistical analyses compared brain activity during EBPM and TBPM against an ongoing-task-only baseline, as well as directly against each other, to identify common and specific neural networks. Behavioral results indicated high accuracy for both PM types, with no significant difference in performance between EBPM and TBPM. However, reaction times for the ongoing task were significantly slower during EBPM compared to TBPM and the baseline condition, suggesting greater attentional interference in the event-based condition. Neuroimaging results revealed that both EBPM and TBPM shared a common neural signature: activation in posterior frontal and parietal cortices and deactivation in the medial rostral prefrontal cortex, consistent with the maintenance of intentions. Distinct patterns emerged for each condition. EBPM specifically activated occipital areas, likely reflecting visual target-checking processes. In contrast, TBPM recruited a broader network including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cuneus/precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum, which the authors attribute to time-estimation and monitoring processes. The findings confirm that while EBPM and TBPM share core mechanisms for intention maintenance involving frontal and parietal regions, they rely on distinct strategic monitoring processes. The study highlights that TBPM engages additional neural resources related to time monitoring, whereas EBPM relies more heavily on visual processing areas. These results provide a detailed neural characterization of the cognitive substrates underlying different types of prospective memory, supporting the view that they are not merely variations of a single process but involve partially distinct neural networks tailored to their specific retrieval demands.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-25; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• prospective memory interruptions