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The anterior-posterior gradient of the fusiform gyrus modulates the transition between mnemonic and perceptual features during reminiscences

Author

Listed:
  • Motong Yuan

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Shandong Second Medical University)

  • Yanyan Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jing Wang

    (Capital Medical University)

  • Yufei Cai

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Wenya Yang

    (Beijing Institute of Technology)

  • Mengyang Wang

    (Capital Medical University)

  • Bo Zhang

    (Zunyi Medical University
    Zunyi Medical University)

  • Hongwei Sun

    (Shandong Second Medical University)

  • Guoming Luan

    (Capital Medical University)

  • Georg Northoff

    (The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research associated with The University of Ottawa)

  • Liang Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Our cognition can be oriented either towards the external environment, as in perception, or towards our own self and its memories. However, the perception-memory continuum underlying the construction of memories remains unclear. Addressing this gap in our knowledge is the goal of our study; for that we uniquely investigate a rare mental phenomenon, namely internally- and externally-oriented reminiscences as manifest in memories and experiential hallucinations. To probe the causality of precisely located areas in eliciting and structuring such perceptual-mnemonic interactions, we studied a large sample of 335 patients with electrodes implanted across nearly the entire cortical surface, combining intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) and electrophysiological causal connectivity. We demonstrate that the likelihood of internally-oriented reminiscences was significantly higher during stimulation of the anterior fusiform gyrus. Conversely, externally-oriented hallucinations were far more likely to occur upon stimulation of the posterior fusiform gyrus. The probability of connections from regions outside the fusiform gyrus that displayed internally-oriented reminiscences to the fusiform gyrus decreased along the anterior-posterior axis. This suggests that an anterior-posterior gradient within the fusiform gyrus mediates an analogous external-internal perceptual-mnemonic continuum.

Suggested Citation

  • Motong Yuan & Yanyan Li & Jing Wang & Yufei Cai & Wenya Yang & Mengyang Wang & Bo Zhang & Hongwei Sun & Guoming Luan & Georg Northoff & Liang Wang, 2025. "The anterior-posterior gradient of the fusiform gyrus modulates the transition between mnemonic and perceptual features during reminiscences," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62561-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62561-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Kenneth D. Harris & Thomas D. Mrsic-Flogel, 2013. "Cortical connectivity and sensory coding," Nature, Nature, vol. 503(7474), pages 51-58, November.
    3. Uma R. Mohan & Honghui Zhang & Bard Ermentrout & Joshua Jacobs, 2024. "The direction of theta and alpha travelling waves modulates human memory processing," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(6), pages 1124-1135, June.
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