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Doctoral thesis
English

Lasting effects of reward on declarative memory: behavioral and neural mechanisms in humans

Contributors

Miendlarzewska, Ewa

Directors

Bavelier, Daphné; Schwartz, Sophie

Defense date

2016-03-22

Abstract

I examined the relationship between reward motivation and hippocampus-dependent declarative memory formation. Learning can be modulated by reward through an interaction between the dopaminergic reward circuit and the hippocampus. In 2 experiments on healthy human volunteers, I tested whether memory formation can be enhanced by stretching monetary-reward motivation through processes of memory reactivation and generalization. The first fMRI experiment tested the effect of reward conditioning on hippocampus-dependent learning in a subsequent non-rewarded visuo-spatial learning task. I observed semantic generalization of reward response in the neural reward circuit and a two-fold effect of reward on learning task recall 24h later: memory for associations was impaired but source memory was enhanced for items with a history of high reward. A second behavioral experiment investigated latent effects of reward motivation on associative memory after forgetting. I found lingering effects of initial monetary reward on response confidence, response times and faster relearning.

Keywords

  • Reward motivation
  • Learning
  • Associative memory
  • Declarative memory
  • VTA-hippocampal loop
  • Dopamine
  • FMRI
  • Relearning

Note

Diplôme commun des univ. de Genève et Lausanne. Thèse en Neurosciences des universités de Genève et de Lausanne

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Funding

  • Swiss National Science Foundation - n◦ 51NF40-­‐104897

Citation (ISO format)

MIENDLARZEWSKA, Ewa. Lasting effects of reward on declarative memory: behavioral and neural mechanisms in humans. Doctoral Thesis, 2016. doi: 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:83137

Main files (1)

Thesis

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Technical informations

Creation

07/04/2016 13:45:00

First validation

07/04/2016 13:45:00

Update

13/10/2025 20:59:31

Status update

15/03/2023 00:17:24

Last indexation

01/09/2026 11:49:47
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