False Recall is Associated with Larger Caudate in Males but not in Females

1086 

Abstract Submission 

Xuhao Shao¹, Ao Li¹, Bi Zhu¹

¹Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing

Xuhao Shao  
Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing

Ao Li  
Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing

Bi Zhu  
Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing

After learning semantically related words, some individuals are more likely than others to incorrectly recall unstudied but semantically related lures (i.e., Deese-Roediger-McDermott [DRM] false recall). Previous studies have suggested that neural activity in subcortical regions (e.g., the caudate) is involved in false memory (Kurkela & Dennis, 2016). Moreover, there are sex differences in the neural basis of false memories (Slotnick, 2021; Spets, Karanian, & Slotnick, 2021; Spets & Slotnick, 2021; Zhu et al., 2016). However, the sex-specific association between subcortical volume and false memory remains unclear. The current study examined whether sex modulates the relationship between caudate volume and DRM false recall. We tested two hypotheses. First, females should have higher true and false recall than males. Second, sex should moderate the relationship between caudate volume and false recall. To test these two hypotheses, this study measured individual differences in DRM false recall in healthy young adults and then acquired their structural imaging data to measure the volume of subcortical regions.

The current study recruited 400 Chinese college students (mean age: 21.33 ± 1.97 years [M ± SD]; 211 females and 189 males). In the DRM recall task (Roediger & McDermott, 1995), participants studied 12 lists of 8 semantically related Chinese words (e.g., apple, vegetable, lychee, melon, banana, grape, cherry and pear) during encoding. After a 10-minute filler task (i.e., an anti-saccade task), participants were asked to write down as many words as they could remember on a piece of paper within the next 10 minutes. The raw scores for true, false, and foil recall were the number of recalled targets (studied words), lures (unstudied but semantically related words), and foils (unstudied and unrelated words). To examine the relationship between subcortical volume and memory performance, we used FreeSurfer (version 7.1.1) to obtain subcortical segmentation (i.e., caudate, accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen and thalamus) and total intracranial volume (ICV). In the current study, we used repeated-measures ANOVA to examine sex differences in memory performance, and linear regression models to examine whether sex moderates the relationship between memory performance and subcortical volumes. The Bonferroni method was used to control for multiple comparisons when calculating separate tests for seven subcortical regions.

In terms of sex differences in recall performance, we found that males had lower levels of both true and false recall compared to females. In terms of sex differences in subcortical volumes, the caudate, accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen and thalamus were larger in males compared to females. Importantly, sex moderated the relationship between caudate volume and false memory after controlling for age and ICV. Specifically, larger caudate volume was associated with higher false recall in males, but not in females. This correlation was significant in males after controlling for age and ICV. Except for the caudate, the volumes of the other six subcortical regions were not associated with false recall in males or females. Furthermore, individual differences in true recall were not associated with the volumes of the seven subcortical regions, nor did sex moderate their relationships.

This study found that sex modulates the relationship between caudate volumes and DRM false recall, suggesting that males and females produce false recall in different ways. Specifically, caudate volume was positively associated with false recall in males but not in females. This association was significant both before and after controlling for age and intracranial volume. This study emphasizes the importance of including sex as a moderator when investigating the neural correlates of human memory.

Long-Term Memory (Episodic and Semantic) ¹

Anatomical MRI ²

Learning

Memory

MRI

Other - Sex difference