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The Method of Loci (Mol) and Memory Consolidation: Dreaming Is Not Mol

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The Method of Loci (Mol) and Memory Consolidation: Dreaming Is Not Mol Commentary/Llewellyn: Elaborative encoding between remote emotionally salient information, the phenomen- synchronization (Elbert et al. 1994), autonomic nervous system ology of dreaming, and the acquisition of new memories? The response to systemic physiological stimuli (Magrans et al. answer to such concern is actually one of the most decisive 2010), electroencephalographic analysis (Abásolo et al. 2007), factors in predicting the long-term implications of any theoretical synchronic pattern and noise modulation in adaptive motor model in psychology. For example, very few people would deny control in the cerebellum (Tokuda et al. 2010), and even that Freud’s id/ego/superego scheme of the human psyche rep- higher cognitive processes (Aiello 2012) and complex psychiatric resented a relatively rational description of the relations disorders (Uhlhaas & Singer 2012). between human desires, fears, and personal decisions (De Sousa By combining the classic psychological AAOM principles (visu- 2011). Nevertheless, the fact that the topological structure of alization, bizarre association, organization, narration, embodiment, Freud’s theoretical model bore no resemblance to the actual hier- and location) with the most recent findings in the neuroscience of archical structure of the underlying biological systems at any level memory and emotions, Llewellyn has demonstrated that, unlike rendered such a scheme a simple speculative description of the the Freudian psyche model, such principles are solidly grounded observed psychological phenomena with limited scientific on the neurobiology of memory and dreaming. The advantages applications. of such compatible framework go far beyond the simple desire Interestingly, a short appraisal about the contemporary for interdisciplinary uniformity regarding the conceptual struc- understanding of the relationships between structure and func- tures (as well as an universally accepted nomenclature) employed tion in the human brain (Bressler & Tognoli 2006; Damoiseaux in the study of dreams and memory by both psychology and neuro- & Greicius 2009; Horwitz & Braun 2004; McIntosh 2000) science. Indeed, if a psychological model survives such a compat- reveals that the vast majority of the current neuroscience litera- ibility test, that means its theoretical structure is universally valid ture has departed from a static localizationist approach (Berker and can, therefore, be successfully applied also to the formulation et al. 1986; Von Economo 1930; Wernicke 1970), in which each of scoring systems that can then be used in very practical clinical different eloquent area of the brain is deemed to be responsible studies involving, for example, frontline neurosurgical interven- for a specific function (a paradigm clearly illustrated by the tional trials for a wide range of neurological conditions affecting classic Brodmann’s cortical maps; Pearce 2005), to a dynamic memory (such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia; connectionist approach (McClelland et al. 2010), in which Laxton & Lozano 2012; Laxton et al. 2010). actual information is not spatially located at specific brain In summary, there is nothing new in stating the apparently regions but rather can be traced to specific patterns of connec- obvious fact (which has been clearly noticed and properly tions among distant clusters of neurons (Seung 2009). In fact, described since early antiquity; Harrisson 2010) that there Llewellyn’s proposal closely follows the current hodotopic seems to be a close connection between human dreams, imagin- model of brain functions (De Benedictis & Duffau 2011), ation, and memory. The great trump and uniqueness of Llewel- according to which the human brain would operate based on lyn’s article is having analyzed such a close relationship on the the activity of a plastic network of cortical functional epicenters basis of two leading-edge paradigms in neuroscience: the concepts (topical organization) connected by both short-local and large- of hodotopic organization and the nonlinear dynamics of brain scale white-matter fibers (hodological organization). In such a neural networks. framework, not only memories, but a variety of other higher cognitive functions (such as language, attention, memory, and decision making), would emerge from the dynamic interaction between parallel streams of information flowing between The method of loci (MoL) and memory highly interconnected neuronal clusters (Litwin-Kumar & consolidation: Dreaming is not MoL-like Doiron 2012) organized in a widely distributed circuit modu- lated by key central nodes. Such parallel processing and local doi:10.1017/S0140525X13001398 recurrent activity would, therefore, give rise to neuroplasticity and enable the encoding of new information as the overall pat- Tore Nielsen terns in the strength of the intrinsic connections of such Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, and Dream & Nightmare network change over time (Polack & Contreras 2012; Turrigiano Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du & Nelson 2004). This new paradigm for understanding brain Sacré-Coeur de Montreal, Montreal, QC H4J 1C5, Canada. functions has led to an amazing and challenging mapping task [email protected] (the so-called Human Connectome Project), which compares http://www.dreamscience.ca in complexity to (and, according to some authors, even exceeds) that of mapping the human genome (Sporns 2011b; Abstract: Certain method of loci (MoL) prerequisites – familiar, Toga et al. 2012). coherently ordered locations – should appear during dreaming if the From a theoretical standpoint, modeling this type of infor- latter is, in fact, elaborative memory encoding as hypothesized by mation processing has required a new set of mathematical and Llewellyn. A review of the literature suggests that dreamed locations are neither familiar nor coherently ordered and thus unsuitable for conceptual tools that involve fuzzy logic and probabilistic out- facilitating memory in this sense. This conclusion converges with other comes (Brainerd & Reyna 2001) (instead of the classic evidence that episodic memory is dependent upon non–rapid eye Boolean logic with its two-valued deterministic outcomes), as movement (NREM), rather than REM, sleep. well as nonlinear (chaotic) dynamic systems and stochastic pro- cesses (Afraimovich et al. 2011), instead of classic linear func- Llewellyn proposes a bold hypothesis about rapid eye movement tions. According to such models, the complexity of higher (REM) dream function – that it elaboratively encodes episodic cognitive functions would emerge not by data processing invol- memories in a manner akin to classical mnemonic techniques. ving hierarchical trees of propositional calculus (with a branch- This work comes at a time when there is an upswing in interest ing trend of information from specific to general categories in (Smith 2010; Wamsley & Stickgold 2011) in how dreaming partici- progressive logical order), but rather by a comparative pattern pates in the well-established memory functions of sleep (Diekel- analysis of the different features of the sensorial input per- mann & Born 2010; Walker & Stickgold 2010). It may thus formed by parallel, distributed, and interconnected networks have heuristic value for this renewed line of inquiry. Nonetheless, (McClelland & Rogers 2003). It has already been shown that her hypothesis is complex, freely mixing phenomenological and nonlinear (chaotic) dynamics can be successfully used to neurophysiological assumptions, and it remains speculative and describe, represent, and model several cognitive and neural untested. In this commentary, I consider whether dreamed functions (Korn & Faure 2003), such as neurons’ single-cell location imagery possesses the qualities necessary to enhance firing patterns (Huber et al. 2000), neural network memory as Llewellyn claims. 624 BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2013) 36:6 Commentary/Llewellyn: Elaborative encoding discontinuity, however, successive dream locations may not be linked in any coherent sense (see example below). A dream prota- gonist might traverse several locations that are not logically con- nected and yet not notice this discontinuity. Thus, the relative paucity of location familiarity and coherent ordering does not necessarily entail that dreams themselves are incoherent, but only that their coherence may be based on other qualities, such as emotion, narrative structure, or protago- Figure 1 (Nielsen). Encoding of an episodic memory with the nist activity. Ambulatory motor activity, in particular, is prevalent classical method of loci technique. The individual draws upon in dream content (McCarley & Hobson 1977) and sustains a sense (A) a familiar sequence of locations, such as a building or path of story continuity, even though the scenes through which move- with a known order. To each unique location, the individual ment occurs change frequently and unexpectedly. For example, associates (B) a distinctive compositional image that substitutes one short dream (Hobson & McCarley 1977) illustrating continu- for (C) a component of the to-be-remembered episode. To ous motor activity also belies an absence of location continuity; in recall the memory, the individual mentally “revisits” the “ “ ” “ ” quick succession the dreamer reported: sitting in front of a locations and retrieves the image/component placed there. piano,”“walking around an amusement park,”“watching a Because the location sequence is familiar, images linked to it band,”“walking
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