The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in the Formation and Retrieval of Memories for Complex Events

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has recently been speculated to support the function of schemas. To test this idea, we had patients with mPFC lesions and healthy controls view film clips which were rated as congruent (typical), incongruent (atypical), or neutral with respect to schemas. We then tested their memories to determine if schema-congruency (typicality) would influence the recall of the film clips and recognition of elements in them. Our prediction was that effects of schema congruency on recall and recognition would be diminished in patients with mPFC lesions. We found that, unlike healthy controls in previous studies, mPFC patients tended to recall schema-congruent and schema-incongruent narratives with similar error rates, over time. These results provide partial support for the view that the mPFC is crucial for the schematization of memories over time.M.A