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Abstract
We examined anticipatory mechanisms of reward-motivated memory formation using event-related
FMRI. In a monetary incentive encoding task, cues signaled high- or low-value reward
for memorizing an upcoming scene. When tested 24 hr postscan, subjects were significantly
more likely to remember scenes that followed cues for high-value rather than low-value
reward. A monetary incentive delay task independently localized regions responsive
to reward anticipation. In the encoding task, high-reward cues preceding remembered
but not forgotten scenes activated the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens,
and hippocampus. Across subjects, greater activation in these regions predicted superior
memory performance. Within subject, increased correlation between the hippocampus
and ventral tegmental area was associated with enhanced long-term memory for the subsequent
scene. These findings demonstrate that brain activation preceding stimulus encoding
can predict declarative memory formation. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis
that reward motivation promotes memory formation via dopamine release in the hippocampus
prior to learning.