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Rose Cooper, PhD
UX Research Scientist
Meta Reality Labs
When we remember a past event, we mentally piece together the features of our original experience — the sights, sounds, conversations, thoughts and feelings attached to that moment in time. Memory is more like a jigsaw puzzle than a video player: remembering one detail helps us to fit the others in place. But, the type of information we recall and the accuracy and vividness with which we do so varies considerably between memories and from one person to another. During my PhD, I studied how memory for visual information of past events (such as places) differs in autism, integrating behavioral assessments, eye tracking, and neuroimaging. My postdoctoral research used multimodal, dynamic tasks in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to test how we perceive and remember visual, emotional, and social features of our environment, and how those features influence our subjective experience of the past.
Remembering the past engages a distributed network of brain regions, known as the default network, including regions such as posterior parietal cortex and the medial temporal lobe. Using functional MRI, my work has investigated how different states of activity and communication within this network shape our ability to perceive and remember events, and explain individual differences in subjective experience. In my most recent role, I worked within a psychology, computer science, and engineering team to develop data-driven, machine learning methods that model individual and context-dependent differences in brain function.
2022
Kurkela, K. A., Cooper, R. A., Ryu, E., & Ritchey, M.
bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.08.478511
Integrating region- and network-level contributions to episodic recollection using multilevel structural equation modeling

The brain is composed of networks of interacting brain regions that support higher order cognition. For instance, a posterior medial (PM) network appears to support recollection and other forms of episodic construction. Past research has focused largely on the roles of individual brain regions in recollection or on their mutual engagement as part of an integrated network. Yet the relationship between these region- and network-level contributions remains poorly understood. Here we applied multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the functional organization of the PM network and its relationship to episodic memory outcomes. We evaluated two aspects of functional heterogeneity in the PM network: first, the organization of individual regions into subnetworks, and second, the presence of regionally-specific contributions while accounting for network-level effects. The results suggest that the PM network is composed of ventral and dorsal subnetworks, with the ventral subnetwork making a unique contribution to recollection, and that memory-related activity in individual regions is well accounted for by these network-level effects. These findings highlight the importance of considering both region and network levels of analysis when studying brain-behavior relationships.

2022
Cooper, R. A. & Ritchey, M.
Memory & Cognition, https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-022-01291-5
Patterns of episodic content and specificity predicting subjective memory vividness

The ability to remember and internally represent events is often accompanied by a subjective sense of “vividness”. Vividness measures are frequently used to evaluate the experience of remembering and imagining events, yet little research has considered the objective attributes of event memories that underlie this subjective judgment, and individual differences in this mapping. Here, we tested how the content and specificity of event memories support subjectively vivid recollection. Over three experiments, participants encoded events containing a theme word and three distinct elements — a person, a place, and an object. In a memory test, memory for event elements was assessed at two levels of specificity — semantic gist (names) and perceptual details (lure discrimination). We found a strong correspondence between memory vividness and memory for gist information that did not vary by which elements were contained in memory. There was a smaller, additive benefit of remembering specific perceptual details on vividness, which, in one study, was driven by memory for place details. Moreover, we found individual differences in the relationship between memory vividness and objective memory attributes primarily along the specificity dimension, such that one cluster of participants used perceptual detail to inform memory vividness whereas another cluster were more driven by gist information. Therefore, while gist memory appears to drive vividness on average, there were idiosyncrasies in this pattern across participants. When assessing subjective ratings of memory and imagination, research should consider how these ratings map onto objective memory attributes in the context of their study design and population.

2021
Cooper, R. A., Kurkela, K. A., Davis, S. W., & Ritchey, M.
NeuroImage, 236, 118075
Mapping the organization and dynamics of the posterior medial network during movie watching

Brain regions within a posterior medial network (PMN) are characterized by sensitivity to episodic tasks, and they also demonstrate strong functional connectivity as part of the default network. Despite its cohesive structure, delineating the intranetwork organization and functional diversity of the PMN is crucial for understanding its contributions to multidimensional event cognition. Here, we probed functional connectivity of the PMN during movie watching to identify its pattern of connections and subnetwork functions in a split-sample replication of 136 participants. Consistent with prior findings of default network fractionation, we identified distinct PMN subsystems: a Ventral PM subsystem (retrosplenial cortex, parahippocampal cortex, posterior angular gyrus) and a Dorsal PM subsystem (medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, anterior angular gyrus). These subsystems were anchored by two complementary regions: Retrosplenial cortex mediated communication between parahippocampal cortex and the Dorsal PM system, and posterior cingulate cortex mediated communication among Dorsal PM regions. Finally, the distinction between PMN subsystems is functionally relevant: whereas both Dorsal and Ventral PM connectivity tracked the movie content, only Ventral PM connections increased in strength at event transitions and appeared sensitive to episodic memory. Overall, these findings provide a model of PMN pathways and reveal distinct functional roles of intranetwork subsystems associated with event cognition.

2020
Ritchey, M.* & Cooper, R. A.*
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24(6), 451-465; * equal contribution
Deconstructing the posterior medial episodic network

Our ability to remember or imagine specific events involves the construction of complex mental representations, a process that engages cortical and hippocampal regions in a core posterior medial (PM) brain network. Existing theoretical approaches have described the overarching contributions of the PM network, but less is known about how episodic content is represented and transformed throughout this system. Here, we review evidence of key functional interactions among PM regions and their relation to the core cognitive operations and representations supporting episodic construction. Recent demonstrations of intranetwork functional diversity are integrated with existing accounts to inform a network-based model of episodic construction, in which PM regions flexibly share and manipulate event information to support the variable phenomenology of episodic memory and simulation.

2020
Cooper, R. A. & Ritchey, M.
Journal of Neuroscience, 40(8), 1701-1709
Progression from feature-specific brain activity to hippocampal binding during episodic encoding

The hallmark of episodic memory is recollecting multiple perceptual details tied to a specific spatial-temporal context. To remember an event, it is therefore necessary to integrate such details into a coherent representation during initial encoding. Here we tested how the brain encodes and binds multiple, distinct kinds of features in parallel, and how this process evolves over time during the event itself. We analyzed data from 27 human subjects (16 females, 11 males) who learned a series of objects uniquely associated with a color, a panoramic scene location, and an emotional sound while fMRI data were collected. By modeling how brain activity relates to memory for upcoming or just-viewed information, we were able to test how the neural signatures of individual features as well as the integrated event changed over the course of encoding. We observed a striking dissociation between early and late encoding processes: left inferior frontal and visuo-perceptual signals at the onset of an event tracked the amount of detail subsequently recalled and were dissociable based on distinct remembered features. In contrast, memory-related brain activity shifted to the left hippocampus toward the end of an event, which was particularly sensitive to binding item color and sound associations with spatial information. These results provide evidence of early, simultaneous feature-specific neural responses during episodic encoding that predict later remembering and suggest that the hippocampus integrates these features into a coherent experience at an event transition.

2020
Samide, R., Cooper, R. A., & Ritchey, M.
Behavior Research Methods, 52, 1469-1479
A database of news videos for investigating the dynamics of emotion and memory

Emotional experiences are known to be both perceived and remembered differently from non-emotional experiences, often leading to heightened encoding of salient visual details and subjectively vivid recollection. The vast majority of previous studies have used static images to investigate how emotional event content modulates cognition, yet natural events unfold over time. Therefore, little is known about how emotion dynamically modulates continuous experience. Here, we report a norming study wherein we develop a new stimulus set of 126 emotionally negative, positive, and neutral videos depicting real-life news events. Participants continuously rated the valence of each video during its presentation and judged the overall emotional intensity and valence at the end of each video. In a subsequent memory test, participants reported how vividly they could recall the video details and estimated each video?s duration. We report data on the affective qualities and subjective memorability of each video. The results replicate the well established effect that emotional experiences are more vividly remembered than non-emotional experiences. Importantly, this novel stimulus set will facilitate research into the temporal dynamics of emotional processing and memory.

2019
Cooper, R. A. & Ritchey, M.
eLife, 8:e45591
Cortico-hippocampal network connections support the multidimensional quality of episodic memory

Episodic memories reflect a bound representation of multimodal features that can be reinstated with varying levels of precision. Yet little is known about how brain networks involved in memory, including the hippocampus and posterior-medial (PM) and anterior-temporal (AT) cortical systems, functionally interact to support the quality and the content of recollection. Participants learned color, spatial, and emotion associations of objects, later reconstructing the visual features using a continuous color spectrum and 360-degree panorama scenes. Behaviorally, dependencies in memory were observed for the gist but not precision of these event associations. Supporting this integration, hippocampus, AT, and PM regions showed increased inter-network connectivity and reduced modularity during retrieval compared to encoding. These network connections, particularly to hippocampus, tracked a multidimensional, continuous measure of objective memory quality. Moreover, distinct patterns of connectivity tracked item color precision and spatial memory precision. These findings demonstrate not only how hippocampal-cortical connections reconfigure during episodic retrieval, but how such dynamic interactions might flexibly support the multidimensional quality of remembered events.

2019
Cooper, R. A. , Kensinger, E. A., & Ritchey, M.
Psychological Science, 30(5), 657-668
Memories fade: The relationship between memory vividness and remembered visual salience

Past events, particularly emotional experiences, are often vividly recollected. However, it remains unclear how qualitative information, such as low-level visual salience, is reconstructed and how the precision and bias of this information relates to subjective memory vividness. Here, we tested whether remembered visual salience contributes to vivid recollection. In three experiments, participants studied emotionally negative and neutral images that varied in luminance and color saturation and reconstructed the visual salience of each image in a subsequent test. Results revealed, unexpectedly, that memories were recollected as less visually salient than they were encoded, demonstrating a novel ?memory fading? effect, whereas negative emotion increased subjective memory vividness and the precision with which visual features were encoded. Finally, memory vividness tracked both the precision and remembered salience (bias) of visual information. These findings provide evidence that low-level visual information fades in memory and contributes to the experience of ?vivid? recollection.

2019
Cooper, R. A. & Simons, J. S.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26, 163-181
Exploring the neurocognitive basis of episodic recollection in autism

Increasing evidence indicates that the subjective experience of recollection is diminished in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to neurotypical individuals. The neurocognitive basis of this difference in how past events are re-experienced has been debated and various theoretical accounts have been proposed to date. Although each existing theory may capture particular features of memory in ASD, recent research questions whether any of these explanations are alone sufficient or indeed fully supported. This review first briefly considers the cognitive neuroscience of how episodic recollection operates in the neurotypical population, informing predictions about the encoding and retrieval mechanisms that might function atypically in ASD. We then review existing research on recollection in ASD, which has often not distinguished between different theoretical explanations. Recent evidence suggests a distinct difficulty engaging recollective retrieval processes, specifically the ability to consciously reconstruct and monitor a past experience, which is likely underpinned by altered functional interactions between neurocognitive systems rather than brain region-specific or process-specific dysfunction. This integrative approach serves to highlight how memory research in ASD may enhance our understanding of memory processes and networks in the typical brain. We make suggestions for future research that are important for further specifying the neurocognitive basis of episodic recollection in ASD and linking such difficulties to social developmental and educational outcomes.

2019
Lazzaro, S. C., Weidinger, L., Cooper, R. A., Baron-Cohen, S., Moutsiana, C., & Sharot, T.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49, 1304-1315
Social conformity in autism

Humans are extremely susceptible to social influence. Here, we examine whether this susceptibility is altered in autism, a condition characterized by social difficulties. Autistic participants (N = 22) and neurotypical controls (N = 22) completed a memory test of previously seen words and were then exposed to answers supposedly given by four other individuals. Autistic individuals and controls were as likely to alter their judgements to align with inaccurate responses of group members. These changes reflected both temporary judgement changes (public conformity) and long-lasting memory changes (private conformity). Both groups were more susceptible to answers believed to be from other humans than from computer algorithms. Our results suggest that autistic individuals and controls are equally susceptible to social influence when reporting their memories.

2017
Cooper, R. A., Richter, F. R., Bays, P. M., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Simons, J. S.
Cerebral Cortex , 27(2), 888-902.
Reduced hippocampal functional connectivity during episodic memory retrieval in autism

Increasing recent research has sought to understand the recollection impairments experienced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we tested whether these memory deficits reflect a reduction in the probability of retrieval success or in the precision of memory representations. We also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural mechanisms underlying memory encoding and retrieval in ASD, focusing particularly on the functional connectivity of core episodic memory networks. Adults with ASD and typical control participants completed a memory task that involved studying visual displays and subsequently using a continuous dial to recreate their appearance. The ASD group exhibited reduced retrieval success, but there was no evidence of a difference in retrieval precision. fMRI data revealed similar patterns of brain activity and functional connectivity during memory encoding in the 2 groups, though encoding-related lateral frontal activity predicted subsequent retrieval success only in the control group. During memory retrieval, the ASD group exhibited attenuated lateral frontal activity and substantially reduced hippocampal connectivity, particularly between hippocampus and regions of the fronto-parietal control network. These findings demonstrate notable differences in brain function during episodic memory retrieval in ASD and highlight the importance of functional connectivity to understanding recollection-related retrieval deficits in this population.

2017
Cooper, R. A., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Simons, J. S.
Cognition, 159, 127-138.
Eye movements reveal a dissociation between memory encoding and retrieval in adults with autism

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit subtle deficits in recollection, which have been proposed to arise from encoding impairments, though a direct link has yet to be demonstrated. In the current study, we used eye-tracking to obtain trial-specific measures of encoding (eye movement patterns) during incidental (natural viewing) and intentional (strategic) encoding conditions in adults with ASD and typical controls. Using this approach, we tested the degree to which differences in encoding might contribute to recollection impairments, or whether group differences in memory primarily emerge at retrieval. Following encoding of scenes, participants were asked to distinguish between old and similar lure scenes and provide ?remember?/?familiar? responses. Intentional encoding increased eye movements and subsequent recollection in both groups to a similar degree, but the ASD group were impaired overall at the memory task and used recollection less frequently. In controls, eye movements at encoding predicted subsequent correct responses and subsequent recollection on a trial-by-trial basis, as expected. In contrast, despite a similar pattern of eye movements during encoding in the two groups, eye movements did not predict trial-by-trial subsequent memory in ASD. Furthermore, recollection was associated with lower similarity between encoding- and retrieval-related eye movements in the ASD group compared to the control group. The eye-tracking results therefore provide novel evidence for a dissociation between encoding and recollection-based retrieval in ASD.

2016
Richter, F. R.*, Cooper, R. A.*, Bays, P. M., & Simons, J. S.
eLife, 5:e18260; * equal contribution
Distinct neural mechanisms underlie the success, precision, and vividness of episodic memory

A network of brain regions have been linked with episodic memory retrieval, but limited progress has been made in identifying the contributions of distinct parts of the network. Here, we utilized continuous measures of retrieval to dissociate three components of episodic memory: retrieval success, precision, and vividness. In the fMRI scanner, participants encoded objects that varied continuously on three features: color, orientation, and location. Participants’ memory was tested by having them recreate the appearance of the object features using a continuous dial, and continuous vividness judgments were recorded. Retrieval success, precision, and vividness were dissociable both behaviorally and neurally: successful versus unsuccessful retrieval was associated with hippocampal activity, retrieval precision scaled with activity in the angular gyrus, and vividness judgments tracked activity in the precuneus. The ability to dissociate these components of episodic memory reveals the benefit afforded by measuring memory on a continuous scale, allowing functional parcellation of the retrieval network.

2016
Cooper, R. A., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Simons, J. S.,
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(6), 2186-2198.
Reality monitoring and metamemory in adults with autism spectrum conditions

Studies of reality monitoring (RM) often implicate medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in distinguishing internal and external information, a region linked to autism-related deficits in social and self-referential information processing, executive function, and memory. This study used two RM conditions (self-other; perceived-imagined) to investigate RM and metamemory in adults with autism. The autism group showed a deficit in RM, which did not differ across source conditions, and both groups exhibited a self-encoding benefit on recognition and source memory. Metamemory for perceived-imagined information, but not for self-other information, was significantly lower in the autism group. Therefore, reality monitoring and metamemory, sensitive to mPFC function, appear impaired in autism, highlighting a difficulty in remembering and monitoring internal and external details of past events.

2015
Cooper, R. A., Plaisted-Grant, K. C., Hannula, D. E., Ranganath, C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Simons, J. S.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124(3), 565-575.
Impaired recollection of visual scene details in adults with autism spectrum conditions

Subtle memory deficits observed in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have often been characterized as reflecting impaired recollection and it has been proposed that a relational binding deficit may underlie the recollection impairment. However, subjective recollection and relational binding have not been measured within the same task in ASC to date and it is unclear whether a relational binding deficit can provide a full account of recollection impairments in ASC. Relational memory has also not been compared with item memory when the demands of the 2 tasks are comparable. To assess recollection, relational memory, and item memory within a single task in ASC, 24 adults with ASC and 24 typically developed adults undertook a change detection memory task that assessed recollection of item-specific and spatial details. Participants studied rendered indoor and outdoor scenes and, in a subsequent recognition memory test, distinguished scenes that had not changed from those that had either undergone an item change (a different item exemplar) or a relational (spatial) change, which was followed by a subjective recollection judgment. The ASC group identified fewer item changes and spatial changes, to a similar degree, which was attributable to a specific reduction in recollection-based recognition relative to the control group. These findings provide evidence that recollection deficits in ASC may not be driven entirely by a relational binding deficit.

© Rose Cooper 2022