Neural correlates of mental context reinstatement supporting episodic memory retrieval

This study investigated if mental reinstatement of an encoding context during retrieval increases memory accessibility. Participants performed a cued-recall memory task where the overlap between encoding and retrieval context and the nature of context reinstatement (mental versus physical) were manipulated. Memory performance improved when the encoding-retrieval context overlapped in a comparable way for mental and physical context reinstatement. However, compared to physical reinstatement, mental reinstatement was characterized by later and more sustained ERP effects. Together, our results suggest that the access to episodic memories can be facilitated also by mentally reinstating the encoding context, and furthermore that such benefits may be supported by processes differently engaged than when the encoding context is physically re-presented at the time of retrieval